Space weather refers to the time-varying conditions in near-Earth space and throughout the heliosphere driven primarily by solar activity, including the solar wind, coronal mass ejections (CMEs), solar flares, and variations in the interplanetary magnetic field. As a physical phenomenon, it encompasses the coupling of solar outputs with Earth’s magnetosphere, ionosphere, and thermosphere, producing geomagnetic storms, substorms, ionospheric disturbances, and energetic particle events. These processes are governed by magnetohydrodynamic and plasma-physical interactions, including magnetic reconnection, wave–particle interactions, and particle acceleration, and are quantitatively characterized using indices such as Kp, Dst, AE, and measures of solar wind and IMF parameters.
The European Space Agency's Swarm mission detected a large but temporary spike of high-energy protons at Earth's poles during a geomagnetic storm in November. It did this not with the scientific instruments for measuring ...
Astronomy
Dec 11, 2025
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Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) scientists are collaborating with researchers at UT San Antonio to study how space weathering can alter the lunar surface materials to help interpret regional and global far-ultraviolet ...
Planetary Sciences
Dec 10, 2025
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A new study led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) links quasi-periodic pulsations (QPPs) in solar flares to dynamic oscillations in magnetic reconnection, a phenomenon that can drive space weather and affect technology ...
Astronomy
Dec 9, 2025
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New balloon-mounted space radiation probes developed by the Surrey Space Center at the University of Surrey have captured their first measurements of a major solar storm, confirming the research team's model, which indicates ...
Astronomy
Dec 1, 2025
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A strong geomagnetic storm in spring 2024 brought the northern lights unusually far south, as the auroral oval expanded well beyond its typical position. "I am surprised at how sparse the measurement network is, even though ...
Space Exploration
Nov 28, 2025
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Cosmic rays are high-energy particles that constantly bombard Earth from space and are influenced by the sun's magnetic activity. When the sun is active, fewer of these particles reach Earth; when the sun is quiet, more are ...
Planetary Sciences
Nov 20, 2025
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Intense solar storms responsible for breathtaking auroras across the U.S. delayed the launch of Blue Origin's big new rocket Wednesday.
Space Exploration
Nov 12, 2025
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28
Space weather forecasters issued an alert on Tuesday for incoming severe solar storms that could produce colorful northern lights and temporarily disrupt communications.
Space Exploration
Nov 12, 2025
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112
A multidisciplinary team of undergraduate students from three different universities has designed and built a mini satellite, known as a CubeSat, that will launch into space to gather data in collaboration with NASA's Interstellar ...
Space Exploration
Nov 6, 2025
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39
Solar storms may bring colorful auroras to several northern U.S. states Thursday night.
Space Exploration
Nov 6, 2025
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