NILS Detects Negative Ions on Lunar Surface
The Negative Ions at the Lunar Surface (NILS) instrument onboard China’s Chang’e-6 probe has detected negative ions on the surface of the Moon. These ions are produced on the lunar…
BepiColombo Detects Oxygen and Carbon Ions in Magnetosphere of Venus
In August 2021, the ESA/JAXA Mercury-bound BepiColombo spacecraft performed its second flyby of Venus and provided a short-lived observation of its induced magnetosphere. The spacecraft detected cold oxygen and carbon…
Severe Space Weather Events Disrupt Nocturnal Bird Migrations, Researchers Find
Earth’s magnetic field is occasionally but regularly impacted by bursts of energy from the Sun (space weather), such as coronal mass ejections. Birds and other animals depend on the geomagnetic…
Extreme Solar Storm Hit Our Planet 14,300 Years Ago, Subfossil Tree-Rings Show
In new research, scientists from the University of Leeds and elsewhere measured radiocarbon levels in ancient trees preserved within the eroded banks of the Drouzet River in the Southern French…
High-Energy Electrons from Earth’s Plasma Sheet May Be Forming Water on Lunar Surface
Planetary scientists from the University of Hawaii and elsewhere suggest that although they have confirmed the importance of the solar wind as a major source of water production on the…
Auroral Mechanisms May Be Universal throughout Our Solar System
An analysis of data obtained during the ESA/JAXA BepiColombo spacecraft’s first Mercury flyby reveals that Mercury’s southern magnetosphere aurorae are similar to those seen on Earth and Mars. An artist’s…
Parker Solar Probe Identifies Mechanism Driving Fast Solar Wind
NASA’s Parker Solar Probe has flown close enough to the Sun to detect the fine structure of the solar wind close to where it is generated at the solar surface,…
Impact Glass Beads from the Moon Contain Solar Wind-Derived Water, Study Shows
Scientists from China and the United States have analyzed the impact glass beads from a lunar soil sample returned by China’s Chang’e-5 mission. Asteroid and comet impacts are the major…