Oxygen is constantly leaking out of Earth’s atmosphere and into space. Now, ESA’s formation-flying quartet of satellites, Cluster, has discovered the physical mechanism that is driving the escape. It turns out that the Earth’s own magnetic field is accelerating the oxygen away. picked by AutumnLotus 1 month ago

If compasses were around a million years ago, they would not have pointed toward North. That's because the Earth's magnetic field likely underwent a reversal 800,000 years ago. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

There is a growing body of evidence that suggests the Earth's magnetic field is about to disappear (at least for a while). As the magnetic poles shift position, it will have a significant effect on our terrestrial weather as well as all the gadgets we've launched into Earth orbit. picked by BrownTrout 1 year ago

Recently, researchers from the Hahn-Meitner-Institute (HMI) in Berlin in cooperation with University of Applied Sciences in Berlin have succeeded, for the first time, in a direct, three-dimensional visualisation of magnetic fields inside solid, non-transparent materials. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

The scientists lead by Dr. Carsten Hucho found a way to move smallest possible magnetic entities – so-called flux quanta – with the help of acoustic waves. Their results may open new ways to process data. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The solar system's smallest planet has been shrinking at an unexpected rate, researchers announced on Thursday.

When NASA's Mariner 10 probe flew by Mercury in 1974 and 1975, it returned images of strange cliffs called 'scarps' that cut across all sorts of geological formations. That suggested that the planet's surface has contracted over time. picked by AutumnLotus 3 months ago

A dwarf star with a surprisingly magnetic personality and a huge hot spot covering half its surface area is showing astronomers that life as a cool dwarf is not necessarily as simple and quiet as they once assumed. Simultaneous observations made by four of the most powerful Earth- and space-based telescopes revealed an unusually active magnetic field on the ultracool low-mass star TVLM513-46546. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

Craters come in all shapes and sizes, some more bizarre than others. Recent photos of Mercury have revealed two new categories of crater that scientists are puzzling over how to explain. When NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft flew by the planet Jan. 14 it snapped pictures of several craters with strange dark halos and one crater with a spectacularly shiny bottom. picked by AutumnLotus 7 months ago

A snow roller forms when a big snowflake bounces across the ground a few times, catching more snowflakes with each bounce. When it becomes too heavy to bounce, it begins to roll, collecting more snow as it moves.

More information picked by suebe 2 years ago

Powerful magnetic waves have been confirmed for the first time as major players in the process that makes the sun's atmosphere strangely hundreds of times hotter than its already superhot surface. The magnetic waves — called Alfven waves — can carry enough energy from the sun's active surface to heat its atmosphere, or corona. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago

So how have these rocks hung onto their magnetic directions and what do they tell us about Mars? Strangely, the answer to these questions might be sitting here on Earth. picked by AutumnLotus 1 year ago

The planet Mercury's magnetic field appears to be strong enough to fend off the harsh solar wind from most of its surface, according to data gathered in part by a University of Michigan instrument onboard NASA's MESSENGER spacecraft. picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

There are many interactions between the Sun and the Earth but one of the most dynamic events is a ‘substorm’ - an explosive reshaping of the Earth’s outer magnetic field.

Video included. picked by AutumnLotus 6 months ago

Vast magnetic cocoons associated with galaxies whose black holes have stopped eating may be responsible for accelerating charged particles called cosmic rays to within a whisker of the speed of light. picked by DrNothing 12 months ago

Long-lived magnetic fields are sustaining a mammoth network of spaghetti-like gas filaments around a black hole, a new study suggests. Previously, it was not clear what prevented the delicate filaments from being destroyed by competing gravitational forces. picked by AutumnLotus 2 months ago

Magnetic waves ripple through the Sun's outer atmosphere with enough energy to heat the region to its astonishing temperature of millions of degrees, new views from the Hinode spacecraft suggest. If correct, the waves could solve a decades-long puzzle about the source of this heat. Includes video. picked by AutumnLotus 10 months ago

The first global map of magnetic peculiarities - or anomalies - on Earth has been assembled by an international team of researchers. Scientists hope to use the map to learn more about the geological composition of our planet. picked by 2manyusernames 11 months ago

When the magnetic poles reverse, a number of changes will probably occur. Communications and navigational equipment, even the composition of the atmosphere could all be affected. The reversals happen on the average every 200k years. It has been 400k years since the last one. And a year since the last omg warning. :-) picked by 2manyusernames 4 months ago

A whole new side of Mercury has been revealed in pictures taken by NASA's MESSENGER probe, which flew by the tiny planet two weeks ago in the first mission to Mercury in more than three decades. The photos, released today, include one of a feature the scientists informally call "the spider," which appears to be an impact crater surrounded by more than 50 cracks in the surface radiating f... read full post picked by AutumnLotus 8 months ago

Scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Astronomy in Heidelberg have discovered the youngest known extrasolar planet. Its host star is still surrounded by the disk of gas and dust from which it was only recently born. This discovery allows scientists to draw important conclusions about the timing of planet formation. picked by AutumnLotus 9 months ago