Space Weather and the Sun-Earth System
Space weather begins at the Sun and its ever-expanding atmosphere. From the human perspective, things get interesting when the solar wind reaches Earth's magnetosphere and interacts with our planet's upper atmosphere. The difference between quiet and active times in the 11-year sunspot cycle profoundly influences the character of space weather at Earth and throughout our Solar System.
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The Sun and the Solar Atmosphere
What are the "parts" of the Sun? The photosphere, the visible "surface" ...Read more
Earth and Near-Earth Space (Geospace)
Earth's global magnetic field generates a huge cavity or bubble in space, the magnetosphere, ...Read more
Space Weather throughout the Solar System
The Sun is surrounded by a "bubble" in space called the heliosphere. In a sense, ...Read more
Quiet vs. Active Times
We tend to think of the Sun as constant and unchanging. However, most aspects of our neighborhood ...Read more
Did you know?
Did you know that it can get as cold as -70 degrees Celsius in the Arctic tundra during the winter?Did you know that the ionosphere makes radio communication possible?
Earth and Space Science Concept of the Day
Do you know what this word or phrase means?Subduction zone
xSubduction zone : Subduction is the process of the oceanic lithosphere colliding with and descending beneath the continental lithosphere.
Click on the word to find out!
Research Highlights
Silver Tells a Story of Early Earth: Water Here Since Planet's Very Early Days
Tiny variations in the isotopic composition of silver in meteorites and Earth rocks are helping scientists put together a timetable of how our planet was assembled, beginning 4.568 billion years ago. Results...Read more
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