Aurorae once classified by human eyes are now being sorted by machines. The change may help astronomers understand how the mysterious features are powered.
Auroral phenomena
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Bringing Clarity to What Drives Auroras
A new classification scheme helps researchers distinguish what accelerates the electrons that create auroras.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing the Origin of a New Celestial Phenomenon
The first statistical study of STEVE events suggests that the appearance of these narrow ribbons of light is closely correlated with violent disturbances in Earth’s magnetosphere.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Can Moderate Space Weather Have Major Impacts?
Pipeline corrosion is an example of why we need better awareness of how long-term exposure to moderate space weather may have significant economic impact by slowly degrading vulnerable systems.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Jupiter’s Stressed Out Magnetosphere Causes Aurora and Heating
Force imbalance between Jupiter’s ionosphere and magnetosphere leads to wave generation to release this stress, but the waves also accelerate particles, causing aurora and heating.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mysterious Aurora Borealis Feature Explained for the First Time
High-speed particles cause indentations in the magnetopause to form “throat auroras.”
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Hubble Reveals Less Studied Regions of Jupiter’s Auroras
With a dose of fiery plasma, the secondary arcs of Jupiter’s aurora shine bright.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mysterious Particle Beams Found over Jupiter’s Poles
The unexpected character of the beams, revealed by NASA’s Juno spacecraft, suggests that the processes that produce Jupiter’s auroras are unlike those on Earth.
Posted inNews
David S. Evans (1936–2016)
Evans, a pioneer of auroral physics, changed the way scientists thought about the aurora and magnetic fields and guided a new generation of researchers.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Magnetic Field Pulsations and Aurora Tightly Linked
Mysterious plasma waves from space are generating displays of aurora near Earth's poles.