Space science
When Is the Geminid Meteor Shower?
The Geminid meteor shower is one of the most reliable annual showers and is associated with 3200 Phaethon, an asteroid or 'rock comet' rather than a typical icy comet. N…
Space science
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8,697 published items in this category and its subcategories.
Space science
What Are Meteor Showers and What Causes Them?
Meteor showers happen when Earth passes through streams of small particles left along the orbits of comets or, in some cases, asteroid-like bodies. The particles enter t…
Space science
What Is Space Weather?
Space weather describes changing conditions in the Sun, solar wind, magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere that can affect technology and operations near Earth. It i…
Space science
What Is a Geomagnetic Storm?
A geomagnetic storm is a prolonged disturbance of Earth's magnetosphere caused by enhanced energy transfer from the solar wind. The most significant storms are often ass…
Space science
What Is a Solar Flare?
A solar flare is a rapid release of magnetic energy in the Sun's atmosphere. Flares can brighten dramatically in X-rays and extreme ultraviolet radiation and can acceler…
Space science
How Do Scientists Forecast Auroras?
Aurora forecasts combine measurements of the Sun and solar wind with models of Earth's magnetosphere. Scientists are not predicting a fixed light show at a precise stree…
Space science
What Are the Northern Lights and Why Do Auroras Happen?
Auroras occur when energetic charged particles are guided by Earth's magnetic field into the upper atmosphere, where collisions with oxygen and nitrogen produce light. T…
Space science
Mars Exploration: Rovers, Missions and What We Have Learned
Mars exploration combines orbiters, landers, rovers and laboratory analysis on Earth to reconstruct the planet's history. Missions have turned Mars from a distant reddis…
Space science
Can Black Holes Die?
Black holes are not necessarily eternal in the simplest quantum description. Stephen Hawking's work showed that quantum effects near an event horizon allow black holes t…
Space science
What Is a Supermassive Black Hole?
Supermassive black holes contain millions to billions of times the Sun's mass and are found at the centers of many large galaxies. Their enormous mass distinguishes them…
Space science
What Is a Black Hole and How Do Black Holes Form?
A black hole is a region where matter has been compressed so strongly that, inside a boundary called the event horizon, escape would require moving faster than light. Bl…
Space science
NASA Artemis: Missions to the Moon Explained
Artemis is NASA’s campaign to build a sustained human exploration capability around and on the Moon, using Orion, the Space Launch System, commercial lunar landers, surf…
Space science
What Can Exoplanet Atmospheres Tell Us?
Exoplanet atmospheres can reveal molecules, temperatures, clouds, circulation and clues to a planet’s formation, climate and possible habitability by imprinting chemical…
Space science
What Is the Nearest Exoplanet to Earth?
Proxima Centauri b is the nearest confirmed exoplanet to Earth known today, orbiting Proxima Centauri a little more than four light-years from our solar system.
Space science
What Makes an Exoplanet Potentially Habitable?
A potentially habitable exoplanet is a world where known conditions could allow environments suitable for life as we understand it; being in a star’s habitable zone is o…