Beyond Earth's atmosphere are swirling clouds of energized particles—ions and electrons—that emanate from the sun. This "solar wind" buffets the magnetosphere, the magnetic force field that surrounds Earth.
General Physics
Jan 14, 2020
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The solar wind that pummels the Earth's dayside magnetosphere causes turbulence, like air over a wing. Physicists at Rice University have developed new methods to characterize how that influences space weather on the nightside.
Space Exploration
Dec 20, 2019
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240
A research group from Graz investigated how solar storms can be simulated in order to enable a more accurate prediction of their effects on the Earth. Their work has furnished a more accurate model for simulating solar storms ...
Space Exploration
Dec 16, 2019
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12
A type of Martian aurora first identified by NASA's MAVEN spacecraft in 2016 is actually the most common form of aurora occurring on the Red Planet, according to new results from the mission. The aurora is known as a proton ...
Space Exploration
Dec 13, 2019
49
512
Nearly a year and a half into its mission, Parker Solar Probe has returned gigabytes of data on the Sun and its atmosphere. Following the release of the very first science from the mission, five researchers presented additional ...
Space Exploration
Dec 11, 2019
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454
If you ask a child to paint a picture of the sun, you will most likely get a bright yellow circle on a piece of paper. This is actually quite accurate, given that the sun is a ball of hot gas and that its surface (called ...
Space Exploration
Dec 5, 2019
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22
Outbursts of energetic particles that hurtle out from the sun and can disrupt space communications may be even more varied and numerous than previously thought, according to results from the closest-ever flyby of the sun.
Space Exploration
Dec 4, 2019
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76
In August 2018, NASA's Parker Solar Probe launched to space, soon becoming the closest-ever spacecraft to the Sun. With cutting-edge scientific instruments to measure the environment around the spacecraft, Parker Solar Probe ...
Space Exploration
Dec 4, 2019
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11
A year ago, NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the sun than any satellite in history, collecting a spectacular trove of data from the very edge of the sun's million-degree corona.
Space Exploration
Dec 4, 2019
168
629
Measurements taken by the Solar Wind Around Pluto (SWAP) instrument aboard NASA's New Horizons spacecraft are providing important new insights from some of the farthest reaches of space ever explored. In a paper recently ...
Astronomy
Dec 2, 2019
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