Cosmic rays reveal event in Earth's magnetic field history

41 000 years ago, the Earth's magnetic field faded and practically disappeared, leaving our planet unprotected from the bombardment of cosmic rays. Evidence for this event has been found in ocean sediment cores by a team ...

The 11-year solar cycle continues during prolonged sunspot minima

Streaming into the solar system at nearly the speed of light, galactic cosmic rays (GCRs) are a high-energy mix of protons, electrons, and atomic nuclei. As they pass into reach of the outflowing solar wind, the propagation ...

Voyager observes magnetic field fluctuations in heliosheath

As they near the outer reaches of the solar system, for the past several years the two Voyager spacecraft have been sending back observations that challenge scientists' views of the physics at the edge of the heliosphere, ...

Voyager 1 may have left the solar system

While there's no official word from NASA on this, the buzz around the blogosphere is that Voyager 1 has left the Solar System. The evidence comes from this graph, above, which shows the number of particles, mainly protons, ...

Regolith: Protection for humans on Mars

For six weeks the rover "Curiosity" is now working on Mars. NASA also plans to send humans to Mars within the next 20 years. On the flight and during the stay on Moon or Mars the astronauts have to be protected against long ...

A young star flaunts its X-ray spots in McNeil's Nebula

(Phys.org) -- X-ray observations have revealed something curious about the young star that illuminates McNeil's Nebula, a glowing jewel of cosmic dust in the Orion constellation: The object is a protostar rotating once a ...

Voyager 1 at the final frontier

For nearly 35 years, NASA’s Voyager 1 probe has been hurtling toward the edge of the solar system, flying through the dark void on a mission unlike anything attempted before. One day, mission controllers hope, Voyager ...

A new kind of metal in the deep Earth

(PhysOrg.com) -- The crushing pressures and intense temperatures in Earth's deep interior squeeze atoms and electrons so closely together that they interact very differently. With depth materials change. New experiments and ...

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