Though not as damaging as extreme space weather events, showers of plasma jets hit Earth’s magnetic shield every day—yet we’re only beginning to understand their effects.
spacecraft
Posted inResearch Spotlights
MESSENGER Reveals a More Dynamic Mercury Surface
Image pairs indicate that 99% of the planet’s surface could be altered in the next 25 million years.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Optimizing Competing Instrument Needs with an Objective Metric
Intrinsic dimensionality can quantify the level of information obtainable for various possible instrument configurations.
Posted inFeatures
Shake, Rattle, and Probe
Helioseismology allows scientists to study the interior of the Sun, solve some basic physics mysteries, and forecast space weather.
Posted inScience Updates
A Time Capsule from the Early Solar System Is En Route to Earth
After an exciting encounter with asteroid Bennu, the OSIRIS-REx mission team looks forward to hitting pay dirt when a hefty sample of ancient planetesimal material is delivered to Earth next year.
Posted inNews
Zhurong Rover Spots Evidence of Recent Liquid Water on Mars
The Chinese rover identified hydrated minerals—likely associated with groundwater—in sediments dating to the Red Planet’s most recent geologic period.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Solar Wind a Major Driver of Atmospheric Sodium at Mercury
MESSENGER observations show a 50% rise in atmospheric sodium-group ions during periods of high solar wind activity.
Posted inNews
Chinese-Led Solar Research Is Looking Bright
With new missions underway and planned, China is stepping up to observe our nearest stellar neighbor.
Posted inNews
Pluto’s Surface Was Recently Sculpted by Icy Volcanism
Geologically young regions of Pluto’s southern hemisphere were likely resurfaced by cryovolcanism, data from the New Horizons spacecraft reveal.