A new classification scheme helps researchers distinguish what accelerates the electrons that create auroras.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Accidental Particle Accelerator Orbiting Mars
The radar aboard the Mars Express spacecraft can generate ion beams arcing through space above the planet, which could lead to a new way of studying the plasma surrounding it.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
What Drives Temperature Inversions in the Mesosphere?
A study of nightglow over India reveals that gravity waves are less important than previously thought.
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
Plasma Density Distribution in Mercury’s Magnetosphere
A new measurement of plasma density distribution in Mercury’s magnetosphere obtained from observations of field line resonance events provides necessary constraint for many planetary science issues.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Windy Weather in the Thermosphere
The weather in the thermosphere includes winds that buffet spacecraft as they orbit the Earth, but how well can these winds be modeled?
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 inEditors' Highlights
Measuring the Magnetic Reconnection Rate in the Magnetotail
Both simulations and observations are used to measure the magnetic reconnection rate in the Earth’s magnetotail, suggesting that the rate is correlated with the intensity of a magnetic substorm.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Cassini Reveals a Missing Link on Saturn’s Rotating Aurora
The bright aurorae dancing in the sky are produced by charged particles traveling along the magnetic field lines from tens of planetary radii. By why do aurorae rotate at Saturn but not at Earth?
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Energetic Electrons Can Penetrate the Stratosphere
Precipitations of electrons with energies greater than 30 kiloelectron volts from the slot region penetrate at low altitude and can contribute to destroy ozone.