Solar wind as a research area focuses on the plasma outflow from the solar corona and its interaction with the heliosphere and planetary environments. It encompasses characterization of its composition, velocity distributions, turbulence, and magnetic structure, including fast and slow streams, coronal mass ejections, and associated shock waves. The field integrates in situ spacecraft measurements, remote sensing, and magnetohydrodynamic and kinetic modeling to study acceleration and heating mechanisms, magnetic reconnection, and wave–particle interactions. Solar wind research is central to understanding heliophysics, space weather forecasting, particle transport, and the coupling between solar activity and magnetospheres throughout the solar system.
A University of Iowa-led research team has reported in a new study the most detailed observations to date of the bow shock at Jupiter, our solar system's gas giant. The findings from NASA's Juno mission reveal key differences ...
Planetary Sciences
Sep 21, 2026
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The sun's magnetic fields are a twisty, curvy, ever-changing mess. In particular, our star's polar regions host areas called polar coronal holes, which contain invisible magnetic highways that stretch into interplanetary ...
Astronomy
Sep 21, 2026
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A Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) study of data from the European Space Agency's (ESA) Solar Orbiter gives the most detailed view of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) to date. The HCS is a sprawling, undulating surface ...
Astronomy
Aug 31, 2026
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Science seems like a straightforward endeavor. You come up with a hypothesis, collect data to prove or disprove it, and analyze that data to see whether the hypothesis is right. But anyone who actually does science will tell ...
Astronomy
Aug 22, 2026
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During a coronal mass ejection (CME), the sun hurls billions of tons of magnetized plasma into space. These eruptions are among the most powerful events in the solar system, and when they are aimed toward Earth, they can ...
On Mother's Day weekend in May 2024, Earth experienced its most powerful geomagnetic storm in two decades, spawning auroras—the ribbony bands of light in the nighttime skies in the Northern and Southern hemispheres—that may ...
Astronomy
Aug 7, 2026
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Scientists plan to use a total solar eclipse that will be visible in Spain next week as a rare chance to learn more about the stormy, unpredictable nature of our star.
Planetary Sciences
Aug 5, 2026
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Using continuous imagery from NASA's PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere) mission, scientists predicted the near-Earth arrival of a solar eruption to within 30 minutes in an initial proof-of-concept test. ...
Astronomy
Aug 4, 2026
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Our sun constantly releases a stream of high-speed charged particles, known as the solar wind. Unlike Earth, Mars does not have a strong global magnetic field to shield its atmosphere from this flow. As a result, the solar ...
Planetary Sciences
Aug 1, 2026
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Each time the moon covers the sun during a total solar eclipse—darkening daytime skies and briefly revealing the sun's ethereal outer atmosphere, the corona—it presents new opportunities to better understand our star and ...
Planetary Sciences
Jul 28, 2026
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