#solarwind — Public Fediverse posts

When the #SolarWind interacts with charged particles in the upper Martian #atmosphere, a long magnetic tail forms and extends behind #Mars.

NASA’s #MAVEN probe has shown that this #magnetotail is particularly dynamic: it twists, shifts, ... #Flapping phenomena have also been observed by the Chinese Tianwen-1 orbiter.

Researchers suggest that the flapping of Mars magnetotail should result from magnetic #reconnexion : https://eos.org/research-spotlights/what-makes-marss-magnetotail-flap

Red, green... and sometimes even blue #aurorae visible at mid-latitudes! A rare spectacle, evidence of an intense episode of #spaceweather.

Green and red auroras result from interactions between the #SolarWind and atmospheric #oxygen molecules. Much rarer, blue emissions are caused by the excitation of #nitrogen molecules. All of these phenomena reflect specific conditions in the atmosphere and the flux of incoming particles, which #SpaceWeather models must account for: https://www.irap.omp.eu/en/2026/03/a-blue-aurora-observed-in-our-part-of-the-world-a-rare-and-revealing-phenomenon/

Wer verrät der #Union, dass Sonne und Wind nicht durch die Straße von Hormus müssen? 🤔

Spoiler: RWE und E.ON werden es nicht machen 🤬

#pv #SolarWind #windenergie #Energiewende #Autarkie #DeutschlandEnergiepolitik #DeutschlandEnergie #gaskathi #DieselDieter #dieseldoris #RWE #eon

#ESA:
"
Smile arrives at Europe’s Spaceport
"
"The Smile spacecraft has arrived at Europe’s Spaceport in French Guiana. During the coming weeks, the spacecraft will go through final preparations for its launch on a Vega-C rocket between 8 April and 7 May."

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Smile/Smile_arrives_at_Europe_s_Spaceport

9.3.2026

#CAS #CSG #Kourou #Raumfahrt #Raumsonde #Smile #SpaceFlight #SolarWind #Sonnenwind #Vega #VegaC #VV29 #Weltraumwetter

Using joint observations from the #Tianwen-1 in the #solarwind and #MAVEN in the induced #magnetosphere, Lin et al. identified a magnetic barrier between #Mars’ #ionosphere and shocked solar wind under the radial #IMF for the first time.

📄 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xinn.2026.101312

#SpacePhysics #PlasmaPhysics #SolarSystem

#MachineLearning anlysis of 20 years of in situ measurements in the #Earth's #magnetosphere brings new insights on #MagneticReconnection processes:

📄 https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2025GL119118

#SpacePhysics #Plasma #PlasmaPhysics #SolarWind #Reconnection @irap https://social.numerique.gouv.fr/@irap/115966776951772619

The Best of FYFD 2025

Happy 2026! This will be a big year for me. I’ll be finishing up and turning in the manuscript for my first book — which flows between cutting edge research, scientists’ stories, and the societal impacts of fluid physics. It’s a culmination of 15 years of FYFD, rendered into narrative. I’m so excited to share it with you when it’s published in 2027.

As always, though, we’ll kick off the year with a look back at some of FYFD’s most popular posts of 2025. (You can find previous editions, too, for 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020, 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, and 2014.) Without further ado, here they are:

• Charged Drops Don’t Splash
• Strata of Starlings
• Espresso in Slow-Mo
• The Incredible Engineering of the Alhambra
• Uranus Emits More Than Thought1
• Kolmogorov Turbulence
• Bow Shock Instability
• How Particles Affect Melting Ice
• The Puquios System of Nazca
• Cooling Tower Demolition
• A Glimpse of the Solar Wind
• Bubbling Up
• A Sprite From Orbit
• Cornflower Roots Growing
• How Sunflowers Follow the Sun

What a great bunch of topics! I’m especially happy to see so many research and research-adjacent posts were popular. And a couple of history-related posts; I don’t write those too often, but I love them for showing just how wide-ranging fluid physics can be.

Interested in keeping up with FYFD in 2026? There are lots of ways to follow along so that you don’t miss a post.

And if you enjoy FYFD, please remember that it’s a reader-supported website. I don’t run ads, and it’s been years since my last sponsored post. You can help support the site by becoming a patron, buying some merch, or simply by sharing on social media. And if you find yourself struggling to remember to check the website, remember you can get FYFD in your inbox every two weeks with our newsletter. Happy New Year!

(Image credits: droplet – F. Yu et al., starlings – K. Cooper, espresso – YouTube/skunkay, fountain – Primal Space, Uranus – NASA, turbulence – C. Amores and M. Graham, capsule – A. Álvarez and A. Lozano-Duran, melting ice – S. Bootsma et al., puquios – Wikimedia, cooling towers – BBC, solar wind – NASA/APL/NRL, Lake Baikal – K. Makeeva, sprite – NASA, roots – W. van Egmond, sunflowers – Deep Look)

1. I know what I did. ↩︎

#ESA:
"
Smile approved for launch in spring 2026
"
"Smile has passed its qualification and flight acceptance review, meaning that it meets all requirements for launch. The launch window has been set for 8 April to 7 May 2026."

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Smile/Smile_approved_for_launch_in_spring_2026

20.11.2025

#CAS #China #ESTEC #Ionosphere #Magnetosphere #Raumfahrt #Satelliten #Smile #SolarWind #SpaceFlight #VegaC

The March 1940 Superstorm - Geoelectromagnetic Hazards And Impacts On American Communication And Power Systems
--
https://doi.org/10.1029/2022SW003379 <-- shared paper
--
#spaceweather #geomagnetic #history #historic #1940 #USA #measurement #spatialanalysis #geomagnetism #risk #hazard #effects #ICME #CME #coronalmassejection #interference #electricity #electrical #utilities #infrastructure #impacts #communications #telecommunications #geoelectromagnetic #solarwind #magneticstorm #humanimpacts #geoelectric #geology #soil #operations #transmission #power #energy #energysupply #naturalhazard@USGS | @CIRES

Earth remains under the influence of a waning high-speed #SolarWind ☀️ stream. No Earth-directed coronal mass ejections (#CMEs) were observed over the past 24 hours. Earth’s #geomagnetic field 🌐 was unsettled to active over the past day. https://earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates

#SpaceWeather #RadiationProtection

#SpaceWeather 📆 February 13 : The arrival of a faint coronal mass ejection (#CME) – combined with enhancements by fast #SolarWind from a coronal hole – might bring conditions for a G1 (minor) #geomagnetic storm tonight https://earthsky.org/sun/sun-news-activity-solar-flare-cme-aurora-updates

A #Geomagnetic #Storm is a major disturbance of Earth's #Magnetosphere that occurs when there is a very efficient exchange of energy from the #SolarWind into the space environment surrounding Earth.

https://knowledgezone.co.in/posts/What-is-geomagnetic-storm-6203c30f5cf167c708099987

@SnowshadowII nuclear power is another scam, like #CarbonCapture. We need to get away from the drill-and-burn caveman-type of energy generation. #NuclearPower simply preserves monopolists' control of the energy markets. The most sustainable way to generate power is locally and in a distributed way. Every industry and ever home needs to be 100% self sufficient, no power lines needed (except locally). Stop mining, ban drilling, and jack up costs of greenhouse gas emissions to regulate pollution out of business... Unfortunately, at least in the US, voters seem to be more concerned about migrants eating pets and children getting sex change surgery in schools than the worsening #ClimateBreakdown
- #WTFisWrongWithUS #SuchStupidity #MicroGrid #SolarWind #SolarPV #SolarPowerIsFreedom

The Solar System May Have Passed Through Dense Interstellar Clouds 2 Million Years Ago, Altering Earth’s Climate
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https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/1047528 <-- AAAS press release
--
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41550-024-02279-8 <-- shared paper
--
“Astrophysicists calculate the likelihood that Earth was exposed to cold, harsh interstellar clouds, a phenomenon not previously considered in geologic climate models…"
#GIS #spatial #mapping #interstellar #clouds #astrophysics #climate #climatechange #atmosphere #geologic #paleoclimate #paleoclimatology #cold #iceage #solarwind #plasmashield #heliosphere #radiation #galacticrays #DNA #model #modeling #interstallarmedium #spacephysics #atmosphericchemistry #solarsystem #spaceweather

CIR SPARKS GEOMAGNETIC STORM: Earth's magnetic field is reverberating today from the impact of a #solarwind structure that many skywatchers have never heard of--a "#CIR." Short for "co-rotating interaction regions," CIRs can spark bright #aurora when they hit Earth. That's exactly what happened last night, with colorful lights sighted in both hemispheres. Spaceweather.com for more.

Image: Auroras over New Zealand on June 16, Ian Griffin

Hello, here’s my #Mastodon #introduction: I’m a #space #plasma #physicist, working at Queen Mary University of London #QMUL, studying #solarwind #plasma #turbulence, and related #things. I’m also a #UKRI Future Leaders Fellow #UKRIFLF. Involved in space missions such as #NASA #ParkerSolarProbe.