Space Physics
The nonlinear development of ballooning instability and the subsequently induced plasmoid formation in the near-Earth magnetotail demonstrated in MHD simulations has been proposed as a potential trigger mechanism for substorm onset over the…
In May 2024, extraordinary solar activity triggered a powerful solar storm, impacting Earth and producing the extreme geomagnetic storm of May 10-11, the most intense since 2003. This had significant effects on the magnetosphere, leading to…
In backtracing simulations, which are widely employed to determine cosmic-ray particle trajectories in the geomagnetic field, the atmosphere is typically approximated as an artificial sharp boundary at some low altitude where the traced…
Many coronal mass ejections (CMEs) initially propagate non-radially, and then transition to radial propagation in the corona. This directional transition is a significant process that determines a CME's space weather effects but remains…
High-energy heavy-ion particle accelerators have long served as proxies for the harsh space radiation environment, enabling both fundamental life-science research and applied testing of flight hardware. Traditionally, monoenergetic…
Space radiation is one of the major obstacles to space exploration. If not mitigated, radiation can interact both with biological and electronic systems, inducing damage and posing significant risk to space missions. Countermeasures can…
We report observations of solar wind turbulence derived from measurements by the Parker Solar Probe. Our findings reveal the emergence of finite magnetic helicity within the transition range of the turbulence, aligning with signatures of…
We analyze \emph{Parker Solar Probe} and \emph{Solar Orbiter} measurements of magnetic-field reversals (``switchbacks'') across the Alfv\'en surface ($M_a\simeq 1$), where $M_a$ is the Alfv\'en Mach number. The reported ``sub-Alfv\'enic…
We report on the relationship between flux transfer events (FTEs) at Earth's magnetopause and the geoelectric field that is induced near the FTEs' magnetic footpoints. We study this system using the global hybrid-Vlasov code Vlasiator,…
Ultra-Low Frequency (ULF) waves are critical drivers of particle acceleration and loss in the Earth's magnetosphere. While statistical models of ULF-induced radial transport have traditionally assumed that the waves are uniformly…
We use the high-resolution Swarm faceplate plasma density data at 16 Hz to develop a set of parameters that can characterize multi-scale ionospheric structures and irregularities along the Swarm orbit. We present the methods for calculating…
We report on two 3He-rich solar energetic particle (SEP) events observed by Solar Orbiter (SO) and Parker Solar Probe (PSP) during the April 1 - 4, 2024 conjunction when both spacecraft are within 0.3 AU near their respective perihelion…
Permanent lunar settlements will rely on in situ oxygen production from regolith for life support and propulsion. While oxygen is abundant in lunar materials, it is chemically bound within metal oxides whose extractability depends strongly…
The nature of turbulence at sub-electron scales has remained an open question, central to understanding how electrons are heated in the solar wind. This is primarily because spacecraft measurements have been limited to magnetic field…
In this paper, in the first instance the attitude dynamics of the Earth is modelled based on physical principles so as to correctly predict the Chandler wobble and its features such as its period. To this end not only the steady state and…
We propose a tether-based structural architecture for orbital data centers operating in Dawn-Dusk Sun-Synchronous (DDSS) orbits under continuous sunlight. These space-based data centers, powered solely by solar energy, could provide…
We examine how local streamline topology and energy cascade rate self-organize in plasma turbulence for both compressible and incompressible regimes. Using a fully-compressible Hall-magnetohydrodynamic simulation, we quantify the…
The knowledge of local spatial gradients (curl, divergence etc.) is crucial to examine the three-dimensional variation of flow fields including velocity and magnetic fields in space plasmas like the solar wind. Here we propose a simple…
Mars lacks a global intrinsic dipole magnetic field, but its interaction with the solar wind generates a global induced magnetosphere. Until now, most studies have relied on single-spacecraft measurements, which could not simultaneously…
Magnetic switchbacks are fluctuations in the solar wind in which the interplanetary magnetic field sharply deflects away from its background direction so as to create folds in magnetic field lines while remaining of roughly constant…