Space Physics
The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) between the Sun and Earth is an extension of the solar magnetic field carried by the solar wind into interplanetary space. Monitoring variations in the IMF upstream of the Earth would provide very…
Capella Space, which designs, builds, and operates a constellation of Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) Earth-imaging small satellites, faced new challenges with the onset of Solar Cycle 25. By mid-2022, it had become clear that solar activity…
The Gannon Storm in May 2024 was the largest space weather event experienced in 20 years, generating auroras latitudes as low as 35{\deg}. Such activity can pose significant operational challenges for critical infrastructure operators,…
A previously developed multi-ion, two-stream Flux-Corrected Transport (FCT) hydrodynamic model for plasmasphere refilling has been extended to incorporate self-consistent electron temperature evolution. The past assumption of a constant…
Traditionally, fast solar wind is considered to originate in solar source regions that are continuously open to the heliosphere and slow wind originates in regions that are intermittently open to it. In fast wind, the gradient of the solar…
In this letter, we investigate the population of energetically-dominant sunward-propagating Alfv\'en waves (SAWs) using more than 20 years of data provided by the Wind spacecraft near 1 au. We refer to SAWs as energetically-dominant…
The Martian magnetosheath acts as a conduit for mass and energy transfer between the upstream solar wind and its induced magnetosphere. However, our understanding of its global properties remains limited. Using nine years of data from…
In solar wind turbulence, the energy transfer/dissipation rate is typically estimated using MHD third-order structure functions calculated using spacecraft observations. However, the inherent anisotropy of solar wind turbulence leads to…
The purpose of this project was to assess improvements in CME arrival time forecasts at Earth using the Air Force Data Assimilative Photospheric Flux Transport (ADAPT) model driven by data from the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG)…
We present a solitary Alfv\'en wave model that exhibits nontrivial three-dimensional twisting of open magnetic field lines while preserving constant $|B|$. Embedded rotational discontinuities sharply deflect the otherwise uniform field…
This work presents a unified conceptual and observational framework that reinterprets these radiation bursts as manifestations of the same runaway processes happening at different atmospheric depths (Dual-stage model, DSM). We review recent…
This paper presents a static and dynamic torque analysis of the CABLESSail concept, which involves cables routed along the length of the flexible booms that hold the solar sail membrane in such a manner that tensioning the cables results in…
The continued exploration of Mars will require a greater number of in-space assets to aid interplanetary communications. Future missions to the surface of Mars may be augmented with stationary satellites that remain overhead at all times as…
We present a new algorithm for numerical magnetohydrodynamics on staggered meshes preserving $\nabla \cdot B = 0$. Our algorithm is based on the constrained transport method and supports both cell-based adaptive mesh refinement and temporal…
Quantum computing qubits are notoriously fragile, requiring extreme isolation from environmental disturbances. This paper advances the hypothesis that a combination of microgravity and ultra-low temperature (near absolute zero) provides an…
Venus, in the absence of an intrinsic magnetic field, undergoes a direct interaction between its ionosphere and the solar wind. Previous missions, including Mariner, Venera, and the Pioneer Venus Orbiter (PVO), reported a recurring…
Alfv\'enic rotational discontinuities (RDs) are abundant in the inner heliosphere and can be used to model the boundary of switchbacks, i.e. Alfv\'enic magnetic kinks. To investigate the effects of RDs on proton kinetics, we model a pair of…
The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) issues the official U.S. government forecast for M-class and X-class solar flares, yet the skill of these forecasts has never been comprehensively verified. In this study, we evaluate the SWPC…
Hamiltonian normal forms allow for the analytical approximation of center manifold trajectories and their invariant manifolds through the separation of the saddle and center subspaces that make up the dynamics at the collinear libration…
The coronal mass ejection (CME) arriving at Earth on May 10, 2024 caused the most intense geomagnetic storm in the last two decades, and resulted in highly unusual magnetopause and cusp dynamics. We simulate soft X-Ray emission due to solar…