Space plasmas

Adding Predictability to Fleet Communications During Solar Flares

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, June 15, 2021
Plasma physics, Space plasmas, Applied sciences, Academic disciplines, Space science, Solar flare, Sun, Flare, Reep

This event has caused a ripple affect across the globe; impacting power grids, destroying electrical infrastructure and causing havoc to electronic communications.

Key Points: 
  • This event has caused a ripple affect across the globe; impacting power grids, destroying electrical infrastructure and causing havoc to electronic communications.
  • "I study solar flares and I spent my career modeling them," Reep said.
  • "We generally think of flares in terms of their size or their brightness, but we often ignore the part about their duration."
  • For Reep and others in his field, modeling solar flares involves computationally intensive models that cannot be run in real time.

New Research Suggests that Jets and Coronal Mass Ejections May be the Beginning and End of a Solar Eruption Continuum

Retrieved on: 
Monday, June 7, 2021
Solar phenomena, Plasma physics, Space science, Space plasmas, Applied sciences, Astronomy, Sun, Light sources, Coronal mass ejection, Stellar corona, Solar prominence, Solar flare

Solar eruptions are commonly categorized as jets or coronal mass ejections, also known as CMEs.

Key Points: 
  • Solar eruptions are commonly categorized as jets or coronal mass ejections, also known as CMEs.
  • The research, presented at the virtual American Astronomical Society meeting in June 2021, shows that these two eruption types may simply be two ends of an eruption continuum.
  • Often, the seeds of a solar eruption are sown days or weeks in advance, when two oppositely-charged magnetic fields begin moving away from each other.
  • Because this stretching leaves the field lines largely horizontal, they often fill with cool plasma, and become known as solar prominences.

Astrophysicist's 2004 Theory Confirmed: Why the Sun's Composition Varies

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 2, 2021
Physical sciences, Plasma physics, Astrophysics, Space plasmas, Physics, Light sources, Sun, Axion

Naval Research Laboratory, theorized why the chemical composition of the Sun's tenuous outermost layer differs from that lower down.

Key Points: 
  • Naval Research Laboratory, theorized why the chemical composition of the Sun's tenuous outermost layer differs from that lower down.
  • His theory has recently been validated by combined observations of the Sun's magnetic waves from the Earth and from space.
  • Laming began exploring these phenomena in the mid-1990s, and first published the theory in 2004.
  • "It's satisfying to learn that the new observations demonstrate what happens "under the hood" in the theory, and that it actually happens for real on the Sun," he said.

NASA Selects Heliophysics Missions of Opportunity for Space Science Research and Technology Demonstration

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, December 3, 2020
Applied sciences, Space plasmas, Plasma physics, Sun, Space weather, Space science, Solar Terrestrial Probes program, Heliophysics, Goddard Space Flight Center, NASA, Exosphere, Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe

The science selection was made competitively from proposals to help better understand the fundamental nature of space and the interaction between space and Earth's environment.

Key Points: 
  • The science selection was made competitively from proposals to help better understand the fundamental nature of space and the interaction between space and Earth's environment.
  • As the selected science mission, GLIDE will study variability in Earth's exosphere by tracking far ultraviolet light emitted from hydrogen.
  • "Launching several missions together helps us maximize science while keeping costs down," said Nicky Fox, Heliophysics Division director at NASA Headquarters in Washington.
  • Funding for these missions comes from the Heliophysics Solar Terrestrial Probes program, which is managed by NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.

DCU academic plays key role to advance our knowledge of star formation

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Astronomy, Light, Light sources, Space science, Astronomical imaging, Plasma physics, Space plasmas, James Webb Space Telescope, Molecular cloud, Sun, Telescope, STAR

DUBLIN, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DCU academic Professor Turlough Downes has played a key role in a major research development which will significantly expand our understanding of how stars are formed.

Key Points: 
  • DUBLIN, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DCU academic Professor Turlough Downes has played a key role in a major research development which will significantly expand our understanding of how stars are formed.
  • All stars, including Earth's sun, are thought to form within molecular clouds like this one.
  • Images of star-forming regions taken from Earth are usually blurred by turbulence in the atmosphere.
  • These images give us a glimpse of what will be possible when the James Webb Space Telescope finally launches.

DCU academic plays key role to advance our knowledge of star formation

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, October 6, 2020
Astronomy, Light, Light sources, Space science, Astronomical imaging, Plasma physics, Space plasmas, James Webb Space Telescope, Molecular cloud, Sun, Telescope, STAR

DUBLIN, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DCU academic Professor Turlough Downes has played a key role in a major research development which will significantly expand our understanding of how stars are formed.

Key Points: 
  • DUBLIN, Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- DCU academic Professor Turlough Downes has played a key role in a major research development which will significantly expand our understanding of how stars are formed.
  • All stars, including Earth's sun, are thought to form within molecular clouds like this one.
  • Images of star-forming regions taken from Earth are usually blurred by turbulence in the atmosphere.
  • These images give us a glimpse of what will be possible when the James Webb Space Telescope finally launches.

Global Helium Abundance Measurements in Solar Corona

Retrieved on: 
Friday, September 18, 2020
Physical sciences, Space plasmas, Plasma physics, Natural sciences, Astrophysics, Light sources, Solar phenomena, Diving equipment, Helium, Sun, Stellar corona, Heliosphere

Naval Research Laboratory Space Science Division (SSD) researchers joined an international cadre of scientists July 27 in presenting the results of the first simultaneous global solar corona images of the helium and hydrogen emission that is helping scientists to better understand the space environment.

Key Points: 
  • Naval Research Laboratory Space Science Division (SSD) researchers joined an international cadre of scientists July 27 in presenting the results of the first simultaneous global solar corona images of the helium and hydrogen emission that is helping scientists to better understand the space environment.
  • The paper, "Global Helium Abundance Measurements in the Solar Corona," was published online in Nature Astronomy and discusses the abundance of helium relative to hydrogen in the solar corona, the outer atmosphere of the sun, seen from earth only during eclipses.
  • NRL Astrophysicist Dennis Wang, Ph.D., software lead for the HElium Resonance Scattering in the Corona and HEliosphere (HERSCHEL) rocket flight, was responsible for flight and ground software.
  • His NRL colleague, Research Physicist Martin Laming, Ph.D., managed the new model of element abundance fractionation, to include helium.

NASA Awards NOAA's Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) Solar Wind Plasma Sensor (SWiPS)

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, July 1, 2020
Space science, Astronomy, Outer space, Solar phenomena, Space plasmas, Plasma physics, Sun, Wind, LAGRANGE, Goddard Space Flight Center, Coronal mass ejection, Space weather

GREENBELT, Md., July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA has awarded the Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) Solar Wind Plasma Sensor (SWiPS) contract to South West Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas.

Key Points: 
  • GREENBELT, Md., July 1, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- On behalf of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), NASA has awarded the Space Weather Follow On-Lagrange 1 (SWFO-L1) Solar Wind Plasma Sensor (SWiPS) contract to South West Research Institute (SwRI) in San Antonio, Texas.
  • The principal purpose of this requirement within the Space Weather Follow On (SWFO) Project is to design, analyze, develop, fabricate, integrate, test, calibrate, evaluate, and support launch and on-orbit check-out of the Solar Wind Plasma Sensor (SWiPS) instrument as part of the SWFO-L1 Observatory.
  • SWFO-L1 will provide NOAA with the continuity of solar wind data and coronal mass ejection imagery, the National Weather Service's highest priority for space weather observations.
  • NASA is the program's flight system procurement agent, and NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, is the lead for this acquisition.

NRL telescope onboard ESA, NASA SOHO discovers 4000th comet

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, June 25, 2020
Astronomy, Space science, Contents, Lasco, Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, Solar phenomena, Plasma physics, Space plasmas, Coronagraph, Comet, United States Naval Research Laboratory, Corona

Naval Research Laboratory's Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) instrument identified the 4000th comet discovered by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA on June 15.

Key Points: 
  • Naval Research Laboratory's Large Angle Spectrometric Coronagraph (LASCO) instrument identified the 4000th comet discovered by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), a joint mission between the European Space Agency and NASA on June 15.
  • LASCO, which is aboard SOHO, was developed in 1995 to see the extremely faint emission from the region around the Sun called the corona.
  • "In less than 25 years SOHO has added this huge volume to the archives of our comet knowledge, and it comes from a telescope not designed to see comets," said Karl Battams, NRL computational scientist.
  • The 4000th comet is a testament to the invaluable input from so many volunteers all around the world over the past two decades."

Magnetic Fields Force New Perspective on Milky Way's Black Hole

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, June 2, 2020
Physical sciences, Space science, Natural sciences, Space plasmas, Plasma physics, Geomagnetism, Planetary science, Magnetism, Galaxy, Magnetic field, Black hole, Milky Way

Using its newest infrared instrument to study celestial dust grains, which align perpendicular to magnetic field lines, SOFIA was able to produce detailed maps of our galactic center, showing the behavior of these otherwise invisible magnetic fields around the black hole.

Key Points: 
  • Using its newest infrared instrument to study celestial dust grains, which align perpendicular to magnetic field lines, SOFIA was able to produce detailed maps of our galactic center, showing the behavior of these otherwise invisible magnetic fields around the black hole.
  • Scientists have often relied on gravity to explain their results because measuring celestial magnetic fields is extremely challenging.
  • We know that magnetic fields in the Earth's magnetosphere protect us from high-energy particles coming from the Sun.
  • "The data provide the most detailed look yet at the magnetic fields surrounding our galaxy's central black hole," said David Chuss, a coauthor of the paper at Villanova University in Pennsylvania.