Tag

Space Weather

All articles tagged with #space weather

space1 day ago•6 min saved

NASA's ESCAPADE Deploys Twin Probes to Decode Mars Space Weather

NASA’s ESCAPADE mission launched in 2025 with two orbiters to study how the solar wind and Mars’ magnetosphere interact, revealing real-time atmospheric escape from the Red Planet and providing stereo measurements. The twins will fly in tandem near Mars after looping through a distant Earth magnetotail en route to a Sept. 2027 Mars arrival, also doing discovery science in Earth’s magnetotail. Findings will help protect future astronauts and inform Mars communications and ionospheric understanding as humanity prepares to explore the Red Planet.

via NASA Science (.gov)|

#magnetosphere #mars #nasa-mission

science5 days ago•4 min saved

Solar Flare Timing: A Speculative Link to Earthquake Occurrence

A Japanese study models the Earth’s crust and ionosphere as a coupled electric system to explore whether solar flares could subtly influence when a fault reaches rupture. The authors stress they are discussing timing, not energy, and acknowledge the idea is preliminary and contested by experts, with further validation planned.

via Gizmodo|

#cross-scale-interactions #earthquakes #ionosphere

stargazing5 days ago•53 min saved

Orbiting camera spots vivid auroras over Iceland and Canada during a minor geomagnetic storm

A NASA/NOAA VIIRS satellite captured grayscale aurora displays over the Denmark Strait toward Iceland and across eastern Canada during a minor G1 geomagnetic storm on Feb. 16, 2026. The article explains auroras form when solar particles are channeled by Earth's magnetic field and collide with atmospheric gases, producing greens at mid-altitudes with possible magentas and reds at higher/lower altitudes; ground observers would have seen shimmering curtains under the right conditions.

via Space|

#auroras #denmark-strait #northern-lights

science9 days ago•98 min saved

Sun storms could jostle Earth’s faults, new study hints at quake link

A new study suggests that solar flares may perturb Earth’s ionosphere, altering electrostatic forces in the crust and potentially nudging faults toward earthquakes. The authors model the crust and ionosphere as connected like a leaky battery; critics say the approach is oversimplified and real geology could dampen any effect. Validation is challenging, though the researchers cite a 2024 Japan quake as possible support, emphasizing that correlation does not equal causation.

via Live Science|

#earthquakes #electrostatic-coupling #ionosphere

science12 days ago•4 min saved

Parker Solar Probe Sets Proximity Record, Revealing New Solar Wind Secrets

NASA's Parker Solar Probe flew closer to the Sun than any spacecraft before, reaching about 3.8 million miles from the surface, and gathered detailed data on the solar wind and the Sun’s outer atmosphere to help explain solar heating and improve space weather forecasting.

via The Daily Galaxy|

#nasa #parker-solar-probe #science

space13 days ago•9 min saved

Parker Solar Probe Reveals the Hidden Heating of the Solar Wind

NASA’s Parker Solar Probe, flying closer to the Sun than any prior mission (within 3.8 million miles of the surface), uses a new ALPS analysis tool to map how energy heats and accelerates the solar wind, addressing the coronal heating puzzle and improving space-weather forecasts while providing insights into plasma behavior across the cosmos.

via SciTechDaily|

#parker-solar-probe #plasma-physics #solar-wind

space13 days ago•50 min saved

NASA probes black auroras from Alaska with twin rocket missions

NASA launched two suborbital sounding rockets from Alaska’s Poker Flat Research Range to study the electrical environment of auroras. The BADASS mission investigated black auroras by sending instruments up to about 360 km, while the GNEISS mission used a pair of rockets to map the currents in the aurora, effectively creating a 3D view of the plasma. The data aim to improve understanding of geomagnetic activity that can affect satellites and astronauts.

via Space|

#aurora-borealis #auroras #badass

technology18 days ago•3 min saved

SpaceX Builds Florida Cyclotron to Test Space Radiation In-House

SpaceX is building a 230 MeV cyclotron in Florida to bring single-event radiation testing in-house, enabling rapid testing of avionics across its fleet—including Starlink satellites and other spacecraft—against space radiation.

via Futurism|

#cyclotron #radiation-testing #space-weather

space21 days ago•5 min saved

Solar wind storms likely amplified Uranus’ radiation belts during Voyager 2 flyby

New analysis suggests Voyager 2 encountered Uranus during a solar wind event—likely a co-rotating interaction region—raising Uranus’ radiation belts and solving the long-standing mystery of the intense radiation Voyager 2 saw.

via ScienceDaily|

#radiation-belts #solar-wind #space

stargazing23 days ago•46 min saved

Rare Aurora Illuminates Brazilian Skies During Major Geomagnetic Storm

A photographer captured a rare aurora over Brazil amid a powerful geomagnetic storm, marking a rare sight of the northern lights in Brazil.

via Space|

#aurora #auroras #brazil

astronomy24 days ago•45 min saved

Colossal X4.2 solar flare triggers radio blackouts across Africa-Europe

A powerful X4.2 class solar flare erupted from the Sun, causing radio signal outages across parts of Africa and Europe, with video coverage of the flare; space weather observers will monitor any geomagnetic disturbances and potential impacts on Earth’s technology.

via Space|

#africa-europe #astronomy #radio-blackout

science25 days ago•3 min saved

NASA Sets Course to Chart the Sun's Protective Bubble with IMAP

NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) has begun a two-year mission to map the heliosphere’s boundaries, studying high-energy solar particles, magnetic fields, and interstellar dust to better understand solar activity, space weather, and the Sun’s influence on the solar system and Earth.

via CBS News|

#heliosphere #imap #nasa

science25 days ago•34 min saved

Sun Unleashes Quartet of Flares, Foreshadowing a Wild Week for Space Weather

The Sun erupted four strong X-class flares from sunspot cluster RGN 4366, including an X8.1—the most powerful since October 2024—potentially boosting energetic particle events and coronal mass ejections. CMEs can illuminate auroras but also disrupt satellites, power grids, and communications. Forecasters say more “exciting activity” could be on the way as the Sun remains unusually active during its 11‑year cycle, even though overall activity is expected to wind down later this decade.

via Yahoo|

#coronal-mass-ejections #science #solar-dynamics-observatory

space25 days ago•60 min saved

Earth-Directed Sunspot 4366 Prompts Possible Auroras

Sunspot region 4366 has unleashed dozens of solar flares in 24 hours, including multiple M-class and X-class eruptions—the strongest since 2024—making it the most active sunspot in years. NOAA's SWPC says a coronal mass ejection is headed toward Earth but is likely to miss or only graze it, potentially sparking auroras at unusually low latitudes later this week.

via Live Science|

#auroras #solar-flare #space

science26 days ago•1 min saved

IMAP Real-Time Space Weather Data Stream Debuts for Forecasts

NASA's Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) at Sun–Earth L1 now streams near real-time space weather data through the I-ALiRT pipeline, adding new measurements (high-energy electron counts, helium ion counts, solar wind charge-state ratios and abundances, counterstreaming electrons) to improve timely warnings and forecasts; data and quick-look plots are available for forecasters and researchers.

via Space Weather Prediction Center (.gov)|

#i-alirt #imap #nasa