Simulations show how changes in electron density can trap electromagnetic waves and heat electrons in the ionosphere.
Space & Planets
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 inNews
NASA’s Juno Spacecraft Set to Orbit Jupiter Starting 4 July
The spacecraft's titanium vault and a polar orbiting flight plan that avoids intense radiation regions around Jupiter's equator will help reduce damage to Juno's instruments.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Curiosity Sends Curious Water Data from Mars
The rover's neutron spectroscopy instrument hints at an unexpected trend: The upper soil levels in the layers of Gale Crater's Kimberley formation seem to hold more water-associated hydrogen.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mysterious "Necklace Echoes" in the Sky Explained
Scientists studying a 50–year–old mystery in the Earth's ionosphere have come up with their best explanation of it yet.
Posted inNews
Pharaoh's Iron Dagger Made from a Meteorite, Study Confirms
After examining the metal under bombardment by X-rays, scientists find the composition of King Tutankhamun's knife blade matches "iron of the sky."
Posted inNews
As Mars Gets Close, So Does a Blitz of Red Planet Dramas
NASA's first Mars program director advised the creators of the new film The Space Between Us, which opens this summer, on the science related to Mars colonization.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Can Solar and Space Physics Students Find Research Careers?
Research shows that 80% of graduate students who received their Ph.D. between 2001 and 2009 continued to publish for at least 3 years, and 60% are still publishing.
Posted inAGU News
How on Earth to Decide Where on Mars to Land?
The Public Lecture at AGU's 2016 Fall Meeting will feature three experts—including one still in high school—to discuss landing site selection for the Mars 2020 rover.
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.