Scientists demonstrate the capabilities and limitations of the mathematical model used to calculate solar irradiance using measurements from NASA’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (MAVEN).
solar wind
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Scientists Probe the Calm After Solar Storms
In forecasting the effects of solar storms, understanding how they subside—and not just how they arrive—will be crucial.
Posted inNews
Scientists Get First Glimpse of Solar Wind as It Forms
Using computer-processed images from Sun-watching satellites, scientists observed solar wind emerging from the Sun's corona.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Spotting the Source of Slow Solar Wind
A new study suggests that magnetic reconnection may fuel slow solar winds, which top out at speeds below 500 kilometers per second.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Solar Wind Disconnects Venus’s Magnetotail
Polarity reversals in the solar wind magnetic field disconnect the magnetic field trailing behind Venus, allowing ions from the atmosphere to escape.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Chasing Down the Slow Solar Wind
The Sun's plasma blasts Earth’s magnetosphere at more than a million miles per hour. The fastest pours from holes in the corona, but until recently the source of the "slow" solar wind was a mystery.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Pluto's Interactions with the Solar Wind Are Unique
Space physicists say that Pluto's atmosphere interacts with the solar wind in a never-before-seen hybrid way, one that's both comet-like and planet-like.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mysterious Heavy Ion Beams Above Mars Explained
NASA's latest mission to Mars has uncovered the origins of fast-moving streams of particles high above the planet, flowing against the solar wind.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
New Solar Wind Model Could Improve Space Weather Forecasts
Real-world data drive a simulation that successfully predicts Sun structures and interplanetary solar wind dynamics.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Satellites Test Theory of Magnetic Reconnection
A quartet of satellites flying through Earth's magnetic field measures its interaction with the Sun's and puts a theory about their reconnection to the test.