Page 2: Research news on Space weather

Space weather as a research area investigates the variable conditions in space driven primarily by solar activity and their impact on the heliosphere, near-Earth environment, and technological systems. It encompasses the study of the solar magnetic field, flares, coronal mass ejections, high-speed solar wind streams, and energetic particles, and how these phenomena interact with planetary magnetospheres, ionospheres, and upper atmospheres. Research integrates observations, theory, and physics-based modeling to understand and predict geomagnetic storms, radiation belt dynamics, ionospheric disturbances, and associated hazards to satellites, communication and navigation systems, power grids, and human spaceflight.

How the solar wind really works

The sun, our nearest star, never stops breathing. Every second of every day, it exhales a vast stream of charged particles that sweeps outward through the solar system at hundreds of kilometers per second. We call it the ...

The northern lights' dark twin is a wild card for the power grid

Scientists are working to understand how magnetic currents from the sun spread beneath Earth's crust when the northern lights dance across the sky. Their goal is to tame its "dark twin" and prevent damage to our power grid.

Ice satellite detects powerful geomagnetic storm with precision

It seems improbable that a satellite designed to monitor polar ice sheets and floating sea ice could accurately measure a disturbance in Earth's magnetic field. But that is just what ESA's CryoSat mission did earlier this ...

Volunteers find oddly high solar flare rates

Patches of the sun's surface often show strong magnetic fields. These fields can emerge within a matter of hours, and can decay slowly or quickly, sometimes over days, weeks, or even months. Thanks to a new study about these ...

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