Distinctive plasma ripples are thought to play a big role in electron loss from Earth’s radiation belts, but a new study suggests a more limited influence.
plasmas
Posted inResearch Spotlights
How the 2024 Solar Superstorm Drained Earth’s Radiation Belt
Researchers dig into storm processes linked to dramatic electron loss from the outer Van Allen belt.
Posted inNews
Sharpest-Ever Image of the Sun Shows Small but Mighty Swirls
These tiny instabilities could play an outsized role in energizing the Sun’s corona.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
The Economic Costs of Solar Storms
Though less present in the public consciousness than hurricanes and wildfires, space weather represents a real and potentially significant threat to society.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
The Magnetic Face of Plasma Irregularities on Mars
Plasma density irregularity is nothing new on Mars, but the accompanying magnetic field irregularity observed on NASA’s MAVEN satellite is.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
A New Pathway for Energy Redistribution in Near-Earth Space
In situ evidence of bidirectional wave-particle energy transfer enabled by local magnetic-field gradient reveals an inhomogeneity-driven pathway for energy redistribution.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
Undulations in Auroral Arcs at Plasmaspheric Plume Boundary
Undulations in detached auroral arcs unveil intricate interactions between energetic ions and electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves at plasmaspheric plume boundary.
Posted inEditors' Highlights
How Space Plasma Can Bend the Laser of Gravitational Wave Detectors
A new study reveals how and to what extent laser beams are bent during propagation through space plasma in TianQin, a geocentric space-borne gravitational wave detector.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
What Makes Mars’s Magnetotail Flap?
Spacecraft reveal a key driver of up-and-down motions of thin, current-carrying plasma sheets on the nightside of Mars.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Magnetic “Switchback” Detected near Earth for First Time
Until recently, this type of zigzag shape—formed by energetic rearrangement of magnetic field lines—had been seen only near the Sun.