With a dose of fiery plasma, the secondary arcs of Jupiter’s aurora shine bright.
Space & Planets
Posted inFeatures
Saturn Unveiled: Ten Notable Findings from Cassini-Huygens
The soon-to-end NASA mission to Saturn changed the way we think of habitability beyond Earth, opened our eyes to dynamics in the gas giant’s atmosphere, and more.
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.
Posted inScience Updates
Signs of Water in a Moon Rock
NASA Solar System Exploration Research Virtual Institute (SSERVI) Lunar Volatiles Workshop; Laurel, Maryland, 15–17 November 2016
Posted inEditors' Vox
Harassment in Astronomy and Planetary Science
New data reveal the prevalence of gender- and race-related harassment in astronomy and planetary sciences.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Where Are the Electrical Currents in the Enceladus Plume?
A plume of water ice that escapes Saturn’s moon Enceladus should be coursing with electrical currents, but data are mixed. Now simulations suggest that a sticky dust cloud may shield signals.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Time, Tides, and Wandering Poles
Models of Neptune’s moon Triton reveal curious behavior in how tidal forces and mass anomalies cause the poles to reorient their location.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Curiosity Spies Shifting Sands on Mars
Images from the rover’s pioneering encounter with sand dunes on Mars constrain wind speeds required to move sand in the thin Martian atmosphere.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Huge Storms Disrupted Jupiter’s Fastest Jet Stream in 2016
Recurrent jet stream disturbances provide glimpses of what lies beneath the gas giant’s thick upper cloud cover.