#plasma waves

On November 11th, 2019, the NASA Parker Solar Probe (PSP) successfully completed its third rotation around the Sun, in an ongoing effort to collect detailed data about the heliosphere region. The probe is the closest any spacecraft has come to the Sun, which allows the onboard instruments up-close access to its structure and inner workings. PSP is set to make 24 orbits before ending its mission, with eventual iterations moving the probe closer and closer to the Sun. Despite only being two years into its journey, PSP is already providing a great deal of valuable data.

NASA Observations Reshape Basic Plasma Wave Physics

When NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale — or MMS — mission was launched, the scientists knew it would answer questions fundamental to the nature of our universe — and MMS hasn’t disappointed. A new finding, presented in a paper in Nature Communications, provides observational proof of a 50-year-old theory and reshapes the basic understanding of a type of wave in space known as a kinetic Alfvén wave. The results, which reveal unexpected, small-scale complexities in the wave, are also applicable to nuclear fusion techniques, which rely on minimizing the existence of such waves inside the equipment to trap heat efficiently. 

Read more/videos ~ NASA.gov

2011 Coronal Mass Ejection, Plasma Tsunami and Material Fallback

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) are large expulsions of plasma and magnetic field from the Sun’s corona. They can eject billions of tons of coronal material and carry an embedded magnetic field (frozen in flux) that is stronger than the background solar wind interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) strength. CMEs travel outward from the Sun at speeds ranging from slower than 250 kilometers per second (km/s) to as fast as near 3000 km/s. The fastest Earth-directed CMEs can reach our planet in as little as 15-18 hours. Slower CMEs can take several days to arrive. They expand in size as they propagate away from the Sun and larger CMEs can reach a size comprising nearly a quarter of the space between Earth and the Sun by the time it reaches our planet.

Read more ~swpc.noaa.gov

Video: Timelapse of a 3 hour period on July 7, 2011

NASA’s Van Allen Probes listen to the electromagnetic waves "crashing“ around in space

NASA Listens in as Electrons Whistle While They Work

Space is not empty, nor is it silent. While technically a vacuum, space nonetheless contains energetic charged particles, governed by magnetic and electric fields, and it behaves unlike anything we experience on Earth. In regions laced with magnetic fields, such as the space environment surrounding our planet, particles are continually tossed to and fro by the motion of various electromagnetic waves known as plasma waves. These plasma waves, like the roaring ocean surf, create a rhythmic cacophony that — with the right tools — we can hear across space.

Credits: NASA/University of Iowa