Tag Archives: solar wind

Mars Express: Leaky atmosphere linked to lightweight planet

Posted on February 8, 2018 by rburnham

The Red Planet’s low gravity and lack of magnetic field makes its outermost atmosphere an easy target to be swept away by the solar wind, but new evidence from ESA’s Mars Express spacecraft shows that the Sun’s radiation may play … Continue reading →

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How the solar wind interacts with Mars

Posted on January 17, 2018 by rburnham

Mars, without a strong internal dipole magnetic field, is a place where the supersonic solar wind directly contacts the planet’s upper atmosphere. Using a large set of data from the Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN (MAVEN) mission, [a paper published … Continue reading →

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Mars atmosphere well protected from solar wind

Posted on December 14, 2017 by rburnham

Despite the absence of a global Earth-like magnetic dipole, the Martian atmosphere is well protected from the effects of the solar wind on ion escape from the planet. New research shows this using measurements from the Swedish particle instrument ASPERA-3 … Continue reading →

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Solar eruptions could electrify Martian moons

Posted on October 20, 2017 by rburnham

Powerful solar eruptions could electrically charge areas of the Martian moon Phobos to hundreds of volts, presenting a complex electrical environment that could possibly affect sensitive electronics carried by future robotic explorers, according to a new NASA study. The study … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Mars has a twisted magnetotail

Posted on October 19, 2017 by rburnham

Mars has an invisible magnetic “tail” that is twisted by interaction with the solar wind, according to new research using data from MAVEN. MAVEN is in orbit around Mars gathering data on how the Red Planet lost much of its … Continue reading →

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Mars mystery plumes caused by space weather?

Posted on May 23, 2016 by rburnham

Mysterious high-rise clouds seen appearing suddenly in the martian atmosphere on a handful of occasions may be linked to space weather, say Mars Express scientists. [The results are published in the Journal of Geophysical Research.] Amateur astronomers using telescopes on … Continue reading →

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How Mars’ atmosphere lost its carbon

Posted on November 25, 2015 by rburnham

Mars is blanketed by a thin, mostly carbon dioxide atmosphere — one that is far too thin to keep water from freezing or quickly evaporating. However, geological evidence has led scientists to conclude that ancient Mars was once a warmer, … Continue reading →

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Protecting Mars astronauts from space radiation

Posted on October 1, 2015 by rburnham

On Aug. 7, 1972, in the heart of the Apollo era, an enormous solar flare exploded from the sun’s atmosphere. Along with a gigantic burst of light in nearly all wavelengths, this event accelerated a wave of energetic particles. Mostly … Continue reading →

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MAVEN: Exploring solar wind beyond Earth

Posted on July 2, 2014 by rburnham

As part of its goal to explore Mars’ upper atmosphere and its interaction with the Sun and the solar wind, MAVEN is exploring propagation of the solar wind and solar energetic particles (SEPs) beyond 1 Astronomical Unit [the distance between … Continue reading →

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