A new study suggests that poleward boundary intensifications in the aurora are caused by fast flows of plasma from the poles into the auroral oval.
magnetic fields & magnetism
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Plasma Waves Pinpointed at the Site of Magnetic Reconnection
When the Earth's and the Sun's magnetic fields meet, they realign in explosive and mysterious reconnections. Data suggest that plasma waves called kinetic Alfvén waves play a key role.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Lab Experiment Tests What Triggers Massive Solar Eruptions
In a first-of-its-kind demonstration, scientists provide experimental support for a possible mechanism behind the formation of coronal mass ejections.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Earthquakes Could Funnel Radio Waves to Dark Zones in Mountains
By being coupled with a layer of mobile electrical charges on the Earth's surface, radio waves could travel over the ground to areas that would normally be unreachable, like behind a mountain.
Posted inFeatures
The Geomagnetic Blitz of September 1941
Seventy-five years ago next week, a massive geomagnetic storm disrupted electrical power, interrupted radio broadcasts, and illuminated the night sky in a World War II battle theater.
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 inEditors' Vox
First Results from NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission
Understanding magnetic reconnection is important in the context of Sun-Earth Connection, because of the resulting exchange of mass and energy, and the large amount of energy involved.
Posted inResearch Spotlights
Mysteries of the Magnetosphere
Scientists investigate how dipolarization fronts in Earth's protective magnetosphere interact with the environment around them.
Posted inEditors' Vox
Saturn’s Magnetosphere: A Dozen Years of Discovery
Twelve years of studying Saturn's magnetosphere has produced many compelling breakthroughs. Even more exciting, however, is what's left to learn.
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.