After a decade-long search, scientists captured a type of elusive aurora on camera.
aurorae
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Space Hurricanes Swirl in the Southern Hemisphere, Mostly in Summer
Previous studies of the recently discovered space weather feature focused on the Northern Hemisphere. Dozens hit the Southern Hemisphere each year, new research shows.
Posted inScience Updates
Ionospheric Fireworks Illuminate Auroral Science
A sounding rocket experiment set off a spectacular nighttime light show over Scandinavia as it produced new insights into ionospheric behavior near an aurora.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Aurora Records Reveal Shortened Solar Cycle During Maunder Minimum
Fastidious night sky observations from Korean historical texts provide a novel source of evidence for an altered solar cycle during periods of low magnetic activity.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing Rare Hot Plasma Flows in the Upper Atmosphere
Postmidnight flows appear to be triggered by the same mechanism that drives more frequently observed evening flows.
Posted inNews
Dramatic Flyby Confirms That Mercury’s Radioactive Aurora Touches the Ground
Data collected by the BepiColombo spacecraft traces the causes of the strange aurora, which course through the planet’s weak magnetosphere.
Posted inNews
Eavesdropping on the Vibrations of Earth’s Magnetic Bubble
A NASA-funded crowdsourced science project has converted the unheard sounds resonating inside Earth’s magnetic shield into audible tracks, revealing an orchestra of whistles, wooshes, and chirps.
Posted inNews
Could Jupiter’s Heat Waves Help Solve a Planetary Energy Crisis?
Infrared observations reveal that Jupiter’s upper atmosphere is much warmer than models predict. The discovery may be a clue to finding missing heat sources in other giant planets.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Origin of Dawnside Subauroral Plasma Flows in Geomagnetic Storms
Geomagnetic storms induce fast plasma flows next to the aurora and affect space weather. Lin et al. explain the origin of a special “dawnside” plasma stream that occurs only during extreme storm events.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
From SAR Arc to STEVE: An Atmospheric Evolution
A new study reports the first observation of a stable auroral red arc evolving into a strong thermal emission velocity enhancement during a geomagnetic storm.