space plasmas
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Researchers Spot ‘Aurora’ Above Sunspot
Radio emissions detected about 40,000 kilometres above a dark region on the Sun have aurora-like qualities, according to a team of astronomers that studied the emissions. The emissions were seen above a sunspot— a dark region on the Sun’s surface. Magnetic fields around sunspots are about 2,500 times stronger than Earth’s, according to the National…
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Stellar Explosion From 180 Years Ago Comes Alive in New Timelapse
The Chandra X-ray Observatory didn’t exist in 1838, when the Eta Carinae star system started to brighten as it ejected material in an event named the “Great Eruption.” But traces of the eruption remain, and a timelapse has now been created by compiling 20 years of the space telescope’s data to showcase the dynamic environment…
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Clever Camera Trick Unlocks Hidden Secrets of Sun’s Atmosphere
Scientists behind a Sun-observing probe applied a simple hack to one of its cameras, allowing them to peer into rarely seen regions of the Sun’s atmosphere. Using Solar Orbiter’s Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUI), the team of scientists behind the mission was able to record part of the Sun’s atmosphere at extreme ultraviolet wavelengths. The last-minute…
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The Sun’s Powerful 2021 Outburst Was Detected on Earth, Mars, and the Moon
A massive outburst from the Sun was felt across three worlds in a rare event that could help protect astronauts from harmful radiation during future missions. On October 28, 2021, a solar eruption spread across Earth, the Moon, and Mars simultaneously, even as Earth and Mars were around 150 million miles (250 million kilometres) apart…