By measuring parameters of the hydrogen layer surrounding a distant extrasolar planet, a group of international scientists were able to estimate the size and shape of its magnetosphere. The findings were compiled in a general model that could be used in future scientific attempts of measuring any exoplanets’ magnetosphere. Extrasolar planets or exoplanets are planets located millions of … [Read more...]
Spaceweather in the Focus of Researchers
Significant research has been conducted in the attempts of explaining the physics behind space weather and the geomagnetic storms it causes. Our solar system’s star regularly hurls millions of tons of plasma gas towards Earth, as solar wind, which then acts by buffeting the magnetic field protecting our planet. What is important is that this solar wind can be the cause of geomagnetic storms so … [Read more...]
Ganymede: Revealing Our Solar System Secrets
A team of scientists led by Wes Patterson of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), Laurel, Md., and Geoffrey Collins of Wheaton College, Norton, Mass., has created the first global geologic map of Ganymede, a Galilean moon of Jupiter. This special map joins Earth's moon, and other Jovian moons Io and Callisto, in the group of planetary bodies for which such maps have been … [Read more...]