Un rayo en el planeta Tierra necesita sólo algunos simples ingredientes para generar una chispa. Esos ingredientes existen en todo el sistema solar y más allá.
electricity
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Is Space Weather Worse by the Sea?
A new simulation of space-weather driven geoelectric fields at the land/sea conductivity boundary shows how these fields are magnified by both coastal effects and inhomogeneous land conductivity.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Globally Variable Water Content in the Mantle Transition Zone
Using electromagnetic waves originating in the ionosphere and magnetosphere, conductivity profiles reaching the deep upper mantle show surprising variability in water content.
Posted inFeatures
Studying Earth’s Double Electrical Heartbeat
Charged by thunderstorms and other weather phenomena, the global electrical circuit connects the entire planet.
Posted inFeatures
Planetary Lightning: Same Physics, Distant Worlds
Lightning on Earth needs just a few simple ingredients to generate a spark. Those ingredients exist throughout the solar system and beyond.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Deciphering Electron Signatures in Earth’s Magnetic Tail
A new analysis of spacecraft data collected near the tip of Earth’s magnetotail sheds light on how geomagnetic activity affects the motion of electrons in this region.
Posted inNews
How to Launch a Satellite During a Blackout
PG&E shut down the power to Berkeley’s Space Sciences Laboratory right before a satellite launch.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Charging Thunderclouds Affect Ionospheric Conductivity
As thunderstorm updrafts strengthen, electrification of clouds can heat the lower ionosphere, explaining prolonged disturbances to radio waves in the rarefied atmospheric layer.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Holistic Views of the Nighttime Ionosphere
The nightside ionosphere, at latitudes away from the auroral zone, should have very little charged particle density, but it doesn’t. A new comprehensive study of satellite data explains why.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Plasma Wave Observations from Earth’s Magnetosphere
The first simultaneous observations of multiple electromagnetic wave types in Earth’s magnetosphere may inaugurate a new field of inquiry into cross-frequency wave interactions.