Solar-terrestrial interactions as a research area encompass the study of physical processes linking solar activity to the near-Earth space environment and upper atmosphere. It integrates solar physics, heliospheric physics, and geospace science to analyze how solar radiation, solar wind, coronal mass ejections, and interplanetary magnetic field structures drive magnetospheric dynamics, ionospheric variability, and thermospheric heating. Core topics include energy and momentum transfer via magnetic reconnection, wave–particle interactions, current systems, and particle precipitation, as well as their impacts on geomagnetic storms, substorms, space weather, and associated technological and atmospheric consequences.
It's getting crowded up there. Over the past few years, the advent of SpaceX's Starlink and other players in the mega-satellite constellation game are adding an exponential load of satellites and orbital debris to the low ...
Space Exploration
May 24, 2026
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A new AI-based approach that can "hear" inside the sun could give vital signs of the solar disturbances that have significant effects in near-Earth space and on human activities. The solar cycle is an approximate 11-year ...
Astronomy
May 12, 2026
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Solar emissions exert 'drag' on space junk orbiting Earth. From historical measurements across a period of 36 years, researchers have now shown that space junk begins to fall down much faster once the sun's activity across ...
Space Exploration
May 6, 2026
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For observers on Earth, the sun appears as a bright, familiar disk—but what we see is only half the story. Like the moon, one half of the sun is permanently hidden from our direct view: the far side beyond the visible solar ...
Astronomy
Apr 24, 2026
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Fast solar winds originating from the sun can have direct impacts on Earth—disrupting systems like GPS, aviation, electrical grids, and satellite and radio communications. A new paper by New Mexico State University astronomy ...
Astronomy
Apr 8, 2026
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Every mission to deep space is fraught with danger. A hardware failure during launch, an equipment malfunction far from Earth, or a small space rock hitting the vehicle are all scenarios astronauts will train for.
Planetary Sciences
Apr 1, 2026
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On Jan. 31, 1958, Explorer 1 became the first satellite launched by the United States. Its primary science instrument, a cosmic ray detector, was designed to measure the radiation environment in Earth orbit. Though its final ...
Planetary Sciences
Feb 19, 2026
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This Feb. 4, 2026, image from NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) captures a strong solar flare erupting from the star. Solar flares are powerful bursts of energy that can, along with other types of solar eruptions, impact ...
Astronomy
Feb 9, 2026
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At times, the sun ejects energetic material into space, which can have consequences for space-based and even ground-based electronic technology. Researchers aim to understand this phenomenon and find ways to forecast it, ...
Astronomy
Jan 13, 2026
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Astronomers have produced the first continuous, two-dimensional maps of the outer edge of the sun's atmosphere, a shifting, frothy boundary that marks where solar winds escape the sun's magnetic grasp. By combining the maps ...
Astronomy
Dec 11, 2025
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