In the News
- SAMPEX: A Space Weather Warrior
- 11.01.12 – NASA's first small explorer, SAMPEX, has studied the zoo of particles and cosmic rays surrounding Earth since 1992. In early Nov., 2012, the spacecraft's orbit will decay enough that SAMPEX will re-enter Earth's atmosphere.
- Colossal Binary's Clashing Winds
- 10.12.12 – An enormous binary star pair some 4,700 light-years away pounds its surroundings with intense outflows called stellar winds.
- Aurora from Oct. 8, 2012 CME
- 10.08.12 – The CME release on Oct. 4, 2012 has generated a G2-level geomagnetic storm on Earth resulting in aurora in upper latitudes.
- The Helix Nebula - Bigger in Death than Life
- 10.03.12 – What was once a fairly average star, not much different than our sun, can be seen unraveling at the seams in this new image from the Spitzer and GALEX space telescopes.
- CME Causes Colorful Aurora
- 10.01.12 – The CME launched by the sun on Sept. 27 resulted in aurora dipping into the continental U.S. as far south as Maryland and Ohio on Sept. 30, 2012.
- NuSTAR Celebrates First 100 Days
- 09.20.12 – Tomorrow, Sept. 21, 2012, will mark 100 days since NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, launched into space from the L-1011 “Stargazer” aircraft.
- ACE, Workhorse Of NASA’s Heliophysics Fleet, Is 15
- 08.29.12 – ACE is a crucial component of NASA’s heliophysics fleet, providing warning of incoming space weather. In 15 years, it has also helped map the ingredients and drivers of the vast sea of flowing particles surrounding Earth.
- Tracking Electron Beams from the Sun
- 08.14.12 – Scientists used data from NASA's ACE mission to study jets of electrons streaming from the sun known as electron strahl. This aids understanding of…
- NuSTAR Mission Status Report
- 07.27.12 – NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) passed its Post-Launch Assessment Review at JPL this week, clearing the way for the mission to…
- Hidden Portals in Earth's Magnetic Field
- 07.02.12 – A NASA-funded researcher at the University of Iowa has figured out how to find X-points, places where the magnetic field of Earth connects to the magnetic field of the Sun.
- NuSTAR Observatory Unfurls its Unique Mast
- 06.21.12 – NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array, or NuSTAR, has successfully deployed its lengthy mast, giving it the ability to see the highest energy X-rays in our universe.
- UPDATE: Two CMEs Hit Earth's Magnetosphere
- 06.18.12 – Two CMEs from AR 1504 on June 13-14, delivered a combined blow over the weekend and sparked bright aurora, with some appearing at lower latitudes than usual.
- NASA's NuSTAR Mission Lifts Off
- 06.13.12 – NASA's Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) launched this morning over the central Pacific, beginning its mission to study black holes and…
- Spotting Ultrafine Loops in the Sun's Corona
- 06.12.12 – Scientists have for the first time observed especially narrow loops of solar material scattered on the sun's surface. These ultrafine loops may help with determining how temperatures rise throughout the corona.
- WISE Finds Few Brown Dwarfs Close To Home
- 06.08.12 – Astronomers are getting to know the neighbors better. Our sun resides within a spiral arm of our Milky Way galaxy about two-thirds of the way out from the center.
- NASA to Host News Teleconference About NuSTAR Launch
- 06.06.12 – NASA will host a news teleconference at noon PDT (3 p.m. EDT) June 11 to discuss the upcoming launch of its Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR) observatory, scheduled for no earlier than 8:30 a.m. PDT (11:30 a.m. EDT) June 13.
- The Mysterious Arc of Venus
- 06.04.12 – Astronomers hope to glimpse a “ring of fire” around Venus during its historic transit across the sun on June 5-6. The apparition, if it is seen, could help crack some of the deepest mysteries of the second planet.
- NASA to Hold News Conference About NuSTAR Launch
- 05.24.12 – NASA will hold a news conference on Wednesday, May 30 at 10 a.m. PDT (1 p.m. EDT) to discuss the upcoming launch of the Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array (NuSTAR), a mission to hunt for black holes.
- NASA's NuSTAR Gearing up for Launch
- 05.22.12 – Engineers are installing the "nose cone" around NASA's NuSTAR, a black hole hunter. The mission is scheduled to launch no earlier than June 13.
- NASA Lends Galaxy Evolution Explorer to Caltech
- 05.16.12 – NASA is lending the Galaxy Evolution Explorer (GALEX) to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) in Pasadena, where the spacecraft will continue its exploration of the cosmos.
- Engineers Tuck NuSTAR in its Nose Cone
- 03.02.12 – NuSTAR is being encapsulated in its rocket nose cone, or fairing, which will protect it during launch, scheduled for no earlier than March 21.
- NuSTAR Mirrors Baked in Glass Kitchen
- 02.23.12 – Astrophysicist Will Zhang has experimented with a new technique for efficiently manufacturing super-thin, low-cost curved telescope mirror segments.
- RHESSI Celebrates 10 Years and 40,000 X-Ray Flares
- 02.08.12 – Ten years since its launch, RHESSI has observed more than 40,000 X-ray flares, helped craft a model of how solar eruptions form, and fueled additional serendipitous science papers on such things as the shape of the sun.
- THEMIS Sees a Great Electron Escape
- 01.30.12 – Filled with electrons and charged particles, the radiation belts regularly swell and shrink, but no one is quite sure how. A new study sheds light on how those radiation particles escape.
