space weather – NeRDs Moonbase

NASA to Launch Innovative Solar Coronagraph to Space Station

October 30, 2024 NeRD

5 min read NASA to Launch Innovative Solar Coronagraph to Space Station NASA’s Coronal Diagnostic Experiment (CODEX) is ready to launch to the International Space Station to reveal new details about the solar wind including its origin and its evolution. Launching in November 2024 aboard SpaceX’s 31st commercial resupply services mission, CODEX will be robotically installed on the exterior of the space station. As a solar coronagraph, CODEX will block out the bright light from the Sun’s surface to better see details in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, or corona. In…

NASA, ESA Missions Help Scientists Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Energy

August 30, 2024 NeRD

5 min read NASA, ESA Missions Help Scientists Uncover How Solar Wind Gets Energy Since the 1960s, astronomers have wondered how the Sun’s supersonic “solar wind,” a stream of energetic particles that flows out into the solar system, continues to receive energy once it leaves the Sun. Now, thanks to a lucky lineup of a NASA and an ESA (European Space Agency)/NASA spacecraft both currently studying the Sun, they may have discovered the answer — knowledge that is a crucial piece of the puzzle to help scientists better forecast solar…

NASA’s Heliophysics Experiment to Study Sun on European Mission

May 21, 2024 NeRD

The Joint EUV coronal Diagnostic Investigation (JEDI) will fly aboard the European Space Agency’s Vigil space weather mission and capture new views that will help researchers connect features on the Sun’s surface to those in the Sun’s outer atmosphere, the corona. Credits: NASA NASA announced Tuesday it selected a new instrument to study the Sun and how it creates massive solar eruptions. The agency’s Joint EUV coronal Diagnostic Investigation, or JEDI, will capture images of the Sun in extreme ultraviolet light, a type of light invisible to our eyes but…

Scientists Pursue the Total Solar Eclipse with NASA Jet Planes

April 3, 2024 NeRD

5 min read Scientists Pursue the Total Solar Eclipse with NASA Jet Planes The April 8, 2024, total solar eclipse will produce stunning views across North America. While anyone along the eclipse path with a clear sky will see the spectacular event, the best view might be 50,000 feet in the air, aboard NASA’s WB-57 jet planes. That’s where a trio of NASA-funded teams are sending their scientific instruments to take measurements of the eclipse. Two teams will image the Sun’s outer atmosphere – the corona – and a third…

NASA Signs Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather

December 8, 2023 NeRD

Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (left), signs the Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather alongside Ken Graham, assistant administrator for NOAA’s Weather Services (right). This quad-agency agreement will further research and operations of space weather to improve space weather predictions and preparedness while also mitigating its impacts. NOAA / Robert Hyatt On Dec. 7, 2023, Nicola Fox, associate administrator for NASA’s Science Mission Directorate, signed on behalf of the agency the Memorandum of Agreement for Space Weather Research-To-Operations-To-Research Collaboration. This quad-agency agreement is between NASA, the…

What is STEVE, and how is it different from the aurora?

November 6, 2023 NeRD

The aurora might be the most famous atmospheric phenomenon in our night sky, but it certainly isn’t the only one. If you’ve not yet been introduced, we’d love you to meet STEVE. STEVE — Strong Thermal Emission Velocity Enhancement — is an aurora-like glow that often accompanies the northern lights, yet is a distinct phenomenon, according to the American Geophysical Union (AGU). STEVE was discovered between 2015 and 2016, not by professional astronomers or physicists, but by citizen scientists in Canada chasing the aurora, according to the first study published…

‘Potentially catastrophic’ solar storm identified in ancient tree rings

October 10, 2023 NeRD

Earth was hit by the largest-ever detected solar storm 14,300 years ago, ancient tree rings reveal. If a storm of a similar magnitude hit our planet today, it could have potentially catastrophic effects on our modern technological society. The powerful solar storm was identified by an international team of scientists studying ancient tree rings preserved in the eroded banks of the Drouzet River, near Gap, in the Southern French Alps.  Related: Yes, solar storms are increasing, but don’t lose sleep over an ‘internet apocalypse.’ By studying ancient tree rings,…

Annular solar eclipse 2023: Live updates

October 7, 2023 NeRD

Refresh 2023-10-06T15:59:38.220Z Ring of fire solar eclipse of 2023 is one week away! The path of annularity crossing the U.S. on October 14, 2023. (Image credit: NASA Scientific Visualization Studio) The stage is set for one of the greatest sun events of 2023, if not the greatest skywatching event of the year! We are officially one week away from the annular solar eclipse of Oct. 14 and is one that could potentially be visible to millions of people across the United States. While not a total solar eclipse, the annular…

Solar Tsunami Hit Earth 9,200 Years Ago

February 11, 2022 NeRD

Scientists examining ancient ice cores have found radioactive evidence of an extreme solar storm that took place in 7,176 BCE. The post Solar Tsunami Hit Earth 9,200 Years Ago appeared first on Sky & Telescope.