The planets and moons of our solar system are continuously being bombarded by particles hurled away from the sun. On Earth this has hardly any effect, apart from the fascinating northern lights, because the dense atmosphere ...
Space Exploration
Jun 12, 2018
210
29
What happens when the solar wind suddenly starts to blow significantly harder? According to two recent studies, the boundaries of our entire solar system balloon outward—and an analysis of particles rebounding off of its ...
Space Exploration
Jun 6, 2018
0
219
In a laboratory experiment that mimics astrophysical conditions, with cryogenic temperatures in an ultrahigh vacuum, scientists used an electron gun to irradiate thin sheets of ice covered in basic molecules of methane, ammonia ...
Materials Science
Apr 25, 2018
4
727
Researchers from Centrum Wiskunde & Informatica (CWI), the national research institute for mathematics and computer science in the Netherlands, have studied how solar wind particles are accelerated and heated. In particular, ...
General Physics
Mar 26, 2018
16
11
For the first time, scientists have estimated how much energy is transferred from large to small scales within the magnetosheath, the boundary region between the solar wind and the magnetic bubble that protects our planet. ...
Space Exploration
Jan 30, 2018
2
103
Interplanetary space is hardly tranquil. High-energy charged particles from the Sun, as well as from beyond our solar system, constantly whizz by. These can damage satellites and endanger astronaut health—though, luckily ...
Space Exploration
Nov 17, 2017
20
39
Space may seem empty, but it's actually a dynamic place populated with near-invisible matter, and dominated by forces, in particular those created by magnetic fields. Magnetospheres—the magnetic fields around most planets—exist ...
Space Exploration
Nov 1, 2017
0
731
The radiation belts of Earth and Saturn differ more strongly than previously assumed. In these belts, very energetic particles, such as electrons and protons, move around the planet at high velocities - captured by its magnetic ...
Space Exploration
Oct 30, 2017
0
517
Combining computer observations and simulations, a new model shows that the presence of neutrals in the gas facilitates the magnetic fields to penetrate through the surface of the Sun producing the spicules. In this study, ...
Space Exploration
Oct 13, 2017
18
151
New data from NASA's Cassini mission, combined with measurements from the two Voyager spacecraft and NASA's Interstellar Boundary Explorer, or IBEX, suggests that our sun and planets are surrounded by a giant, rounded system ...
Space Exploration
Apr 24, 2017
15
4178
