Space Weather

What is "Space Weather"?

Everyone is familiar with changes in the weather on Earth. But "weather" also occurs in space. Just as it effects weather on Earth, the Sun is responsible for disturbances in our space environment as well.

Besides emitting a continuous stream of plasma called the solar wind, the Sun periodically releases billions of tons of matter in what are called coronal mass ejections. These immense clouds of material, when directed towards Earth, can cause large magnetic storms in the magnetosphere and the upper atmosphere.

Storms in Space

Magnetic storms can produce energy equivalent to that released by the atomic bomb that leveled Hiroshima in 1945. In the northern hemisphere, they usually occur when the solar wind's magnetic field is directed southward. This orientation is opposite Earth's field on the dayside boundary of Earth's magnetosphere (which points northward), so that Earth's magnetic field becomes interconnected with the solar wind magnetic field. This acts like a switch, allowing much more solar wind energy to enter the magnetosphere.

Magnetic storms produce many noticeable effects on and near Earth:

Aurora borealis, the northern lights, and aurora australis, the southern lights
Radio and television interference
Hazards to orbiting astronauts and spacecraft
Current surges in power lines

Space Weather Headlines:

Ever-Changing Sun Causes Space Weather

A Magnetic Storm Rips Through Earth's Magnetosphere

Today's Space Weather