Lunar samples reveal that the Sun spun relatively slowly in its first billion years and blasted the Earth and Moon with coronal mass ejections.
magnetic fields & magnetism
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Paleomagnetism Indicators May Be Flawed
A new study finds that magnetism in volcanic ash tuff forms through varied processes, calling into question previously reliable signatures used to study variations in Earth’s magnetic field.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Data Mining Reveals the Dynamics of Auroral Substorms
An analysis of 5 decades of satellite data has pieced together the most comprehensive picture yet of substorms, the magnetic disturbances that cause surges of aurora.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
No Underground Magma Ocean on Jupiter’s Fiery Moon?
A new study suggests alternative explanations for Io’s unusual magnetic field.
Posted inNews
New Model Shines Spotlight on Geomagnetic Jerks
Scientists get one step closer to being able to predict jerks—notoriously capricious changes to Earth’s geomagnetic field detectable by satellites.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Jupiter’s Northern Lights on Display in Otherworldly Movie
The first movie of Jupiter’s infrared aurora gives scientists a new look at the Jovian magnetic field.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Bringing Clarity to What Drives Auroras
A new classification scheme helps researchers distinguish what accelerates the electrons that create auroras.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Extraordinary Polar Wander During the Late Jurassic?
Small amounts of polar wander have occurred during geological history, but whether larger amounts occurred is still controversial. Did a truly large polar wander event really happen?
Posted inScience Updates
Finding the Gaps in America’s Magnetic Maps
A 2017 executive order mandated a plan to evaluate U.S. access to critical mineral resources, but the airborne magnetic survey maps that support this effort are sadly out of date.
Posted inOpinions
Changing Name for Earth’s Changing Poles
The name of one geomagnetic pole reversal, the Laschamps excursion, somehow lost its s as it wandered through the scientific literature. It’s time to set the record straight.