On its last orbits in 2017, the long-running Cassini spacecraft dove between Saturn's rings and its upper atmosphere and bathed in a downpour of dust that astronomers call "ring rain."
Space Exploration
Oct 4, 2018
11
228
Bombing raids by Allied forces during the Second World War not only caused devastation on the ground but also sent shockwaves through Earth's atmosphere which were detected at the edge of space, according to new research. ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 25, 2018
6
377
On the cusp of our atmosphere live a thin group of seasonal electric blue clouds. Forming 50 miles above the poles in summer, these clouds are known as noctilucent clouds or polar mesospheric clouds—PMCs. A recent NASA ...
Earth Sciences
Sep 20, 2018
0
201
Thin ribbons of purple and white light that sometimes appear in the night sky were dubbed a new type of aurora when brought to scientists' attention in 2016. But new research suggests these mysterious streams of light are ...
Earth Sciences
Aug 20, 2018
9
1223
New research using a decade of data from ESA's Mars Express has found clear signs of the complex martian atmosphere acting as a single, interconnected system, with processes occurring at low and mid levels significantly affecting ...
Space Exploration
Jul 18, 2018
4
60
A new study co-led by University of Iowa researchers explains how ammonia is distributed in Earth's upper atmosphere.
Earth Sciences
Jun 13, 2018
0
74
The Sun's corona, invisible to the human eye except when it appears briefly as a fiery halo of plasma during a solar eclipse, remains a puzzle even to scientists who study it closely. Located 1,300 miles from the star's surface, ...
Space Exploration
May 8, 2018
15
242
Thunderstorms in Earth's upper atmosphere remain something of a mystery. Scientists cannot reach them directly with instruments; they are too high for balloons and too low for weather satellites. Flying through thunderstorms ...
Space Exploration
Apr 13, 2018
106
978
Facing a climate crisis, we may someday spray sulfur dioxide into the upper atmosphere to form a cloud that cools the Earth, but suddenly stopping the spraying would have a severe global impact on animals and plants, according ...
Earth Sciences
Jan 22, 2018
18
639
Speeding through the atmosphere high above Jupiter's equator is an east-west jet stream that reverses course on a schedule almost as predictable as a Tokyo train's. Now, a NASA-led team has identified which type of wave forces ...
Space Exploration
Dec 19, 2017
2
236
