Browse Archive

  • Artist's concept of ACE located between the sun and the Earth.

    Tracking Electron Beams from the Sun

    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 the giant space weather system around Earth.

  • A sprite glows red in the middle right of this image captured by astronauts on the ISS.

    Heliophysics Nugget: Seeing Sprites

    In the summer of 2011, scientists recorded some of the best movies of sprites ever taken -- movies that can be used to study this poorly understood phenomenon and the forces that create them.

  • STEREO's view of the fastest CME to date, taken on July 23, 2012 at 3:54 UTC.

    STEREO Observes One of the Fastest CMEs On Record

    On July 23, 2012, a massive cloud of solar material erupted off the sun. NASA Goddard scientists clocked the giant cloud, known as a coronal mass ejection, or CME, at speeds between 1,800 and 2,200 miles per second.

  • Comparison of amount of NLCs in 1880 versus 1990.

    Meteor Smoke Makes Strange Clouds

    A key ingredient for 'night shining clouds' comes from outer space. Scientists have detected bits of 'meteor smoke' imbedded in them.

  • Artist's concept shows NASA's two Voyager spacecraft exploring a turbulent region of space known as the heliosheath

    Signs Changing Fast for Voyager at Solar System Edge

    The pace of changes quicken at the boundary of interstellar space.

  • Curiosity traveled to Mars in the belly of a space capsule akin to human-crewed capsules (Left-MSL, Right-Orion capsule)

    Curiosity's First Daredevil Stunt

    Curiosity is equipped with an instrument that measures space radiation, which was turned on shortly after launch on Nov. 26, 2011. The instrument has been sending back data during its trip to Mars.

  • An artist's rendition of what Geotail looks like in space.

    Geotail: 20 Years in Space

    On July 24, 1992, a joint JAXA/NASA mission launched, becoming the vanguard for a set of coordinated missions to study Earth's magnetic environs.

  • Partial interior assembly of Degradation Free Spectrometers (DFS) sounding rocket

    DFS Launches Successfully

    The DFS rocket launched successfully on July 24, 2012 from White Sands, NM with nominal data from 3 of the 4 spectrometers aboard. It's primary goal is to significantly advance the state of the art in short wavelength observing solar spectrometers.

  • Multiple scattered photos of aurora.

    A Taste of Solar Maximum

    On July 14, 2012 a CME crashed into Earth's magnetic field and triggered the most sustained display of auroras in years, giving the world a taste of things to come when Solar Max arrives in 2013.

  • Hi C has captured the highest resolution images ever taken of the corona of the sun in the extreme ultraviolet wavelength.

    NASA Telescope Captures Sharpest Images of Sun's Corona

    NASA's High Resolution Coronal Imager satellite, or Hi-C, has captured the highest-resolution ultraviolet images ever taken of the sun's corona.