Predicting the green glow of aurorae on Mars
Image credit: David Crisp and the WFPC2 Science Team (Jet Propulsion Laboratory/ California Institute of Technology), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Planetary scientists believe they can now predict the green glow of an aurora in the night sky above Mars, and...
Particles energised by magnetic reconnection in solar wind
An SwRI-led study identified particles accelerated to extremely high energies by magnetic reconnection near the Sun. As NASA’s Parker Solar Probe (trajectory shown in green) crossed the heliospheric current sheet, it encountered merging magnetic islands (blues)...
Unravelling the origin of mysterious radiation
Supermassive black holes at the centres of galaxies emit radiation and ultra-fast winds into space. Here is an artistic interpretation. Illustration: NASA, JPL-Caltech. Public Domain. The Universe is full of cosmic radiation but why it can be of a much higher energy...