High-precision radiometric dates shed new light on the puzzling 600,000-year disparity in the timing of one of Earth’s most pivotal timescale boundaries.
magnetic fields & magnetism
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Solar Wind Sets the Magnetosphere Ringing
A combination of data from satellites and ground-based instruments gives new insight into solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Jets of Ionospheric Cold Plasma Discovered at the Magnetopause
The lower-energy particles may play a larger role in magnetic reconnection than previously believed, influencing space weather near Earth.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Can Large Electric Fields Power Jupiter’s X-ray Auroras?
Electric fields with megavolt potentials in Jupiter’s polar region accelerate particles to 100 times more energy than Earth’s typical auroral particles, a new study finds.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Earth’s Outer Radiation Belts Lose Their Electrons
A new analysis of three space storms reveals the mechanisms of particle loss from the Van Allen belts.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Angles of Plasma Ropes near Mars Point to Different Origins
Variation in the orientation of flux rope features in Mars’s magnetotail suggests that some of them form on the planet’s Sun-facing side and travel to the night side.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Probing the Cusps of Saturn’s Magnetic Field
Data from the Cassini spacecraft show that the cusp regions of Saturn’s magnetic field—where it connects to the Sun’s magnetic field—have similarities to Earth’s and also intriguing differences.
Posted inNews
O. Walter Lennartsson (1943–2017)
A pioneering leader in unraveling the complex plasma interactions that drive the dynamics of Earth’s magnetosphere and other space plasma environments.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Testing Models of Near-Space Electrical Currents
Modeling Earth’s near-space environment and its electrical currents is challenging. A new study compares how four different models stack up against observations.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How Geomagnetic Storms Light Up the Geocorona
After geomagnetic storms, Earth’s corona abruptly increases in hydrogen density. For the first time, serendipitous observations have allowed researchers to investigate why.