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Ionosphere

All articles tagged with #ionosphere

Earth Endures Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst on Record
science20 days ago

Earth Endures Brightest Gamma-Ray Burst on Record

Earth was hit by GRB 221009A, the brightest gamma-ray burst ever measured, originating from a star about 2 billion light-years away. Detected by satellites including ESA’s Integral, the burst lasted ~800 seconds and disrupted Earth’s ionosphere for hours; CSES recorded strong electric-field variations near the top of the atmosphere. While such events are rare (statistically ~once every 10,000 years), researchers say studying this burst could shed light on high-energy cosmic processes and potential links to past mass extinction events, with follow-up analyses and missions planned.

via BBC Sky at Night Magazine|
#esa#gamma-ray-bursts#grb-221009a
Alouette I: Canada’s first satellite and its tape-measure antenna that outlived its plan
space29 days ago

Alouette I: Canada’s first satellite and its tape-measure antenna that outlived its plan

Canada’s 1962 Alouette I became the nation’s first satellite and used storable, tubular extendible antennas rolled up like a carpenter’s tape measure to fit in the rocket. Deployed in orbit, the long antennas enabled ionospheric observations that far surpassed the one-year design life, generating a vast archive of ionograms and contributing to hundreds of scientific papers, demonstrating how clever packaging and deployment can unlock long-duration space science.

via Space Daily|
#alouette-i#ionosphere#long-term-data-archive
Astral Tempest Scrambles GPS Across the U.S., Revealing a New Positioning Vulnerability
science1 month ago

Astral Tempest Scrambles GPS Across the U.S., Revealing a New Positioning Vulnerability

During a severe geomagnetic storm on November 11, 2025, GPS positions across much of the continental United States drifted by as much as 10 meters (33 feet) for hours, as an unusually far south auroral oval and a broad band of ionospheric disturbance triggered widespread scintillation—exposing a previously underappreciated vulnerability in systems that rely on ultra-precise positioning and raising questions about prediction.

via ZME Science|
#auroral-oval#geomagnetic-storm#gps
Unprecedented US GPS Glitch Traced to November 2025 Solar Storm
science1 month ago

Unprecedented US GPS Glitch Traced to November 2025 Solar Storm

A November 2025 solar superstorm triggered coast-to-coast ionospheric disturbances across the continental US, producing amplitude scintillation that degraded GPS accuracy by more than 10 meters (about 33 feet) in some areas and threatening precision agriculture and autonomous systems; the mid-latitude disturbances spanned from West to East Coast in a scale never before seen, and researchers say better space-weather prediction and modeling are needed to mitigate future disruptions. The findings appear in Geophysical Research Letters, based on GNSS and aurora observations led by Endawoke Yizengaw.

via ScienceAlert|
#amplitude-scintillation#geomagnetic-storm#gps
2004 magnetar flare delivered Sun-scale energy to Earth in 0.2 seconds
science-space3 months ago

2004 magnetar flare delivered Sun-scale energy to Earth in 0.2 seconds

A December 27, 2004 giant flare from magnetar SGR 1806-20, though tens of thousands of light-years away, saturated satellites and briefly disturbed Earth’s ionosphere. In the first 0.2 seconds the flare released energy comparable to the Sun’s output over about 250,000 years. Follow-up observations showed a pulsating tail tied to the magnetar’s rotation, with distance estimates later revised, complicating exact energy figures. The event also illustrated how a Galactic magnetar flare can resemble a short gamma-ray burst if viewed from afar, but it posed no danger to Earth and remains a key, well-documented case for magnetar physics and energy release mechanisms.

via Space Daily|
#energy#gamma-ray-burst#ionosphere
NASA’s DAPHNE Mission Aims to Decode How Earth’s Atmosphere Shapes Space Weather
space3 months ago

NASA’s DAPHNE Mission Aims to Decode How Earth’s Atmosphere Shapes Space Weather

NASA selected the DAPHNE (Dynamic Atmosphere-Ionosphere Explorer) concept for Phase B development to study how processes in Earth’s lower atmosphere influence the upper atmosphere and space weather, with twin satellites measuring neutral winds, temperature, and composition to improve predictions for GPS, low-Earth orbit satellites, and astronauts. Led by Aimee Merkel of the University of Colorado Boulder, the mission faces a 2027 confirmation review, a launch no earlier than 2029, and a cost cap of $250 million (FY2023 dollars), managed by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center under the Solar Terrestrial Probes program.

via NASA (.gov)|
#earths-atmosphere#ionosphere#nasa
Mars Atmosphere Reveals Earth-like Zwan-Wolf Effect Under Solar Storms
space4 months ago

Mars Atmosphere Reveals Earth-like Zwan-Wolf Effect Under Solar Storms

NASA’s MAVEN mission has for the first time observed the Zwan-Wolf effect—an Earth-originated phenomenon where charged particles are squeezed along magnetic flux tubes—in Mars’ ionosphere during a large solar storm, a finding published in Nature Communications that suggests space weather can influence the Red Planet’s upper atmosphere and may operate at low levels even without a global magnetic field, with implications for atmospheric loss and insights for other unmagnetized worlds like Venus.

via NASA Science (.gov)|
#ionosphere#mars#maven
Solar Superstorm Expands Mars's Ionosphere, Revealing Space Weather on the Red Planet
science7 months ago

Solar Superstorm Expands Mars's Ionosphere, Revealing Space Weather on the Red Planet

A May 2024 solar superstorm from sunspot AR3664 produced an X2.9 flare and a coronal mass ejection that not only triggered a major Earth geomagnetic storm but also dramatically swelled Mars’s lower ionosphere—nearly threefold—as solar plasma and X‑rays flooded the planet’s upper atmosphere. ESA’s Mars Express and the ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter used radio occultation to measure the changes, showing how solar activity injects energy and particles into Mars’s atmosphere and highlighting its ongoing atmospheric loss. The orbiters briefly glitching during the storm but ultimately recovering demonstrates the value of radiation‑hard spacecraft for space weather studies.

via Gizmodo|
#exomars#ionosphere#mars
space7 months ago

Webb Telescope Maps Uranus’ Ionosphere in 3D

The European Space Agency reports that the James Webb Space Telescope used the Near-Infrared Spectrograph (NIRSpec) to study Uranus’ upper atmosphere, focusing on its ionosphere up to about 5,000 km above the clouds and creating a full-rotation 3D map to probe the planet’s magnetic field and auroras. The measurements show the hottest regions at roughly 3,000–4,000 km altitude with ion densities around 1,000 km, offering new insights into Uranus’ enigmatic magnetosphere and ice-giant atmospheres more broadly.

via extremetech.com|
#auroras#ionosphere#magnetosphere
Sun storms could jostle Earth’s faults, new study hints at quake link
science7 months ago

Sun storms could jostle Earth’s faults, new study hints at quake link

A new study suggests that solar flares may perturb Earth’s ionosphere, altering electrostatic forces in the crust and potentially nudging faults toward earthquakes. The authors model the crust and ionosphere as connected like a leaky battery; critics say the approach is oversimplified and real geology could dampen any effect. Validation is challenging, though the researchers cite a 2024 Japan quake as possible support, emphasizing that correlation does not equal causation.

via Live Science|
#earthquakes#electrostatic-coupling#ionosphere
JWST maps Uranus's upper atmosphere in 3D, revealing auroras and magnetic quirks
space7 months ago

JWST maps Uranus's upper atmosphere in 3D, revealing auroras and magnetic quirks

Using JWST's NIRSpec, an international team mapped Uranus's upper atmosphere in 3D for the first time, detailing how temperature and ion density vary up to 5,000 km above the clouds. The study finds peak temperatures around 3,000–4,000 km and ion-density maxima near 1,000 km, with two bright auroral bands and a magnetic-field driven depletion region. The average upper-atmosphere temperature is about 426 K (roughly 150 C), and the atmosphere continues to cool since the 1990s, offering new insight into the energy balance of ice giants.

via European Space Agency|
#atmosphere#auroras#ionosphere