Latest news with #ElectrojetZeemanImagingExplorer
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Newly launched NASA satellites open eyes to start studying 'auroral electrojets' in Earth's atmosphere
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. The first bits of data have come back from the trio of small satellites that make up NASA's EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission, which aims to solve some mysteries surrounding the "auroral electrojet" phenomena in our atmosphere. The "first light" observations are promising, and NASA says the EZIE satellites are "poised to reveal crucial details about Earth's auroral electrojets." After launching March 14 from California's Vandenberg Space Force Base on SpaceX's Transporter 13 rideshare mission, EZIE's three suitcase-sized cubesats now orbit a few hundred miles above Earth in a string-of-pearls configuration. "The EZIE team is very excited about these first-light results," Sam Yee of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, the mission's principal investigator, said in a statement. "The observations demonstrate that both the spacecraft and the MEM instrument onboard are working as expected." MEM, short for Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram, measures a phenomenon called Zeeman splitting. This method will give NASA researchers insight into the structure and evolution of the electrojets system, which has never been available to scientists before. Auroral electrojets are intense currents created by the massive energy transferred by the solar wind when it hits Earth's upper atmosphere. The electrojets push about 1 million amps of electrical charge around Earth's magnetic poles every second. Related: SpaceX launches 74-satellite Transporter 13 mission, lands Falcon 9 rocket for the 400th time (video) Related Stories: — Where and when to see the northern lights in 2025 — Solar wind: What is it and how does it affect Earth? — NASA satellites catch Earth's magnetic field making music While they flow some 65 miles (100 kilometers) above the ground, auroral electrojets are responsible for some of Earth's largest magnetic disturbances. They can also impact the safety of astronauts and cause satellite interference. Understanding these electrojets has been a priority at NASA for a while, and the EZIE mission marks the first time scientists will have the chance to map them up close. The mission is funded by the Heliophysics Division at NASA Headquarters in Washington and is managed out of Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Next, the team will run final checkouts and calibrations for the three EZIE cubesats. If everything goes well, NASA says the mission will start formal science investigations in a month.
Yahoo
16-04-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
A new NASA mission will make it a lot easier to predict space weather
We're in solar storm season. That's because 2025 is the peak of the sun's 11-year cycle of activity. Electrically charged particles fly from our neighborhood star into Earth's magnetosphere, where a powerful magnetic field surrounds our planet. From there, many things can happen – auroras, and even electrical shorts in satellites or power lines. How does that powerful solar energy get transmitted to Earth? A new NASA satellite series called the Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) aims to fill in the gap. EZIE's three toaster-sized CubeSat satellites will spend at least 18 months circling our planet and watching how "space weather" operates near our planet — and how it can impact our infrastructure. "Satellites, power lines, that kind of thing can be affected" by solar storms, said principal investigator Sam Yee, a space scientist at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Maryland. That's because the current of energy from the solar wind flowing through our atmosphere creates plasma through ionizations and heat through resistance, he added. "We call it a space weather event when the current gets stronger abruptly." Mighty currents have caused disruptions before. In 1989, solar storms shorted power for six million people in Quebec. Further back, an immense 1859 storm known as the Carrington Event set afire recording tape at telegraph stations. Scientists have warned that if another Carrington happens, we would be even more vulnerable today given how much of our lives depend on the electrical grid. EZIE will zero in on Earth's auroral electrojets — which are electrical currents flowing close to the magnetic poles of our planet. At the edge of space, which is roughly 65 miles or 100 km above our planet, these electrojets carry currents of up to a million amps of electricity. "You often see this on the night side of the earth — a big burst of activity," said Ian Mann, a University of Alberta physicist not involved with the mission. This activity results in "big dancing displays of the Northern Lights and large electrical currents, and that can happen very quickly. And if it happens quickly, that means that the magnetic fields change quickly." The magnetic fields can be measured through the Zeeman effect of radiative emissions of atoms and molecules. These emission lines can split into several components in the presence of a magnetic field, caused by the interaction between the internal magnetic moments of the emitting atoms and molecules with the external magnetic field. We can see these splits in the spectrum of light emitted by these atoms and molecules. EZIE aims to use its trio of satellites to remotely quantify the Zeeman effects of the molecular oxygen emission line. It will measure magnetic fields induced by the presence of the electrical current in the upper atmosphere in different locations, especially during space weather events. In other words, EZIE will generate a "current map" – a map of the structure of the current – in the field of view of the satellites, Yee said. More importantly: "If we put a multiple spacecraft flying over that region at the same time, we can see that structure, [and] how a structure changes with time." While we can infer the currents from the ground, the distance away from the Earth where the currents flow means that mapping their detailed structure that way is challenging. The University of Alberta, for example, manages and operates the CARISMA magnetometer network. The acronym stands for Canadian Array for Realtime Investigations of Magnetic Activity, part of a multi-university project called Space Environment Canada, funded by the Canadian Space Agency, with additional support from the Canada Foundation for vast CARISMA magnetometer array runs thousands of miles from Canada's north to close to the border of the United States, and from east to west, spanning a large region of western Canada. Despite this coverage of sensors measuring the magnetic field, "diagnosing the detailed fine structure is a nightmare," Mann said, since the magnetic effects from smaller scale structures can magnetically cancel on the ground. Such features can then fall below the resolution of the network, meaning they will smear out in the data. And from above, "you only typically have an occasional satellite that flies through it." Mann said the ideal would be "to have a huge network of satellites all flying at the same time, and by mapping their magnetic fields locally such a constellation of satellites could tell you something about what's actually happening" as the space storms develop. Besides EZIE, he said the community has been fortunate to get some information from the AMPERE experiments aboard the Iridium satellite network. The resolution of AMPERE (Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment) is much lower, however. "The resolution in space and time is still determined by the pass-through time of the spacecraft," Mann said. "The satellites in the AMPERE constellation are about 10 minutes apart along their orbits, and a lot can happen in 10 minutes." During EZIE overflights of the electrojets, the three EZIE satellites will assess the spatial and temporal development of the magnetic fields — which are the signatures of the electrojets. EZIE data will therefore help scientists to better understand how space storms develop, and how sothey can adversely impact technological infrastructure on the ground and in space. Solar storms create beautiful displays when they generate auroras, but the stakes are more serious when they affect power grids or satellites. EZIE aims to help us better understand the flow of currents, to protect our infrastructure. That way, we can both enjoy the beautiful northern lights – and rest easy knowing the lights will still be on when we go back inside.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
SpaceX, NASA to launch 1st mission to study aurora 'electrojets' in Earth's atmosphere
When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. Every second, phenomena known as "auroral electrojets" that stem from solar activity push about a million amps of electrical charge around Earth's poles — and that electrical charge can create big problems. Electrojets are intense electric currents that flow above the Earth. Magnetic disturbances from auroral electrojets can lead to power outages on our planet, for instance, impact astronauts' safety, and interfere with satellites. Now, NASA has a plan to study these powerfully disruptive currents, with hopes of managing their potential effects. In March, the EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) mission will launch three suitcase-sized satellites, called cubesats, aimed at tracking the troubling phenomena. "EZIE is the first mission dedicated exclusively to studying the electrojets," Larry Kepko, an EZIE mission scientist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland, said in a statement. "It does so with a completely new measurement technique." In particular, the mission relies on the Zeeman technique. Here's how it works Molecules of the element oxygen usually emit microwave radiation at a frequency of 118 gigahertz, and the important thing here is that oxygen molecules exist around our planet. Meanwhile, electrojets create a magnetic field around our planet — and this field can split the 118 gigahertz emission line associated with those oxygen molecules. The process is called Zeeman splitting. When the magnetic field is stronger, this emission line is split further apart. Using an onboard instrument called a microwave electrojet magnetogram, the three EZIE cubesats will observe the Zeeman splitting effect while orbiting the Earth. NASA will then study the strength and direction of the observed magnetic fields created by the electrojets. Their scientists hope this will reveal the structure and evolution of the electrojet system. "The utilization of the Zeeman technique to remotely map current-induced magnetic fields is really a game-changing approach to get these measurements at an altitude that is notoriously difficult to measure," Sam Yee, EZIE's principal investigator at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), said in the same statement. Notably, the EZIE mission will tap into the power of citizen scientists to enhance its research. By distributing dozens of EZIE-Mag magnetometer kits to U.S. students, as well as volunteers worldwide, NASA will be able to compare lots of data gathered on Earth with EZIE's observations. "EZIE scientists will be collecting magnetic field data from above, and the students will be collecting magnetic field data from the ground," Nelli Mosavi-Hoyer, EZIE project manager at APL, said in the statement. A SpaceX Falcon 9 is scheduled to launch the three EZIE CubeSats from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California with the Transporter-13 rideshare mission. The launch will happen during solar maximum, when activity from the sun is stronger and more frequent. "It's better to launch during solar max," Kepko said. "The electrojets respond directly to solar activity." Related Stories: — Where and when to see the northern lights in 2025 — Northern lights webcams: Watch the aurora borealis online for free — NASA satellites catch Earth's magnetic field making music Other NASA heliophysics missions, like PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere), will work alongside the EZIE mission. PUNCH, which is scheduled to launch this week, will study how material in the sun's outer atmosphere turns into the solar wind. "We're leveraging the new capability of cubesats," Kepko said. "This is a mission that couldn't have flown a decade ago. It's pushing the envelope of what is possible, all on a small satellite. It's exciting to think about what we will discover."
Express Tribune
27-02-2025
- Science
- Express Tribune
NASA's EZIE mission to study electrojets and improve space weather forecasts
Listen to article NASA is set to launch its Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer (EZIE) mission in March to study the powerful electrical currents known as electrojets, which flow through the upper atmosphere around Earth's poles. These currents, which can carry up to a million amps of electrical charge per second, play a crucial role in space weather, impacting satellite communications, power grids, and the safety of astronauts. By mapping these electrojets, NASA aims to improve predictions of space weather and help mitigate its effects on Earth. The EZIE mission includes three CubeSats, each about the size of a carry-on suitcase, which will fly in formation from pole to pole approximately 550 kilometers above Earth. These small satellites will observe electrojets that flow in the ionosphere, about 100 kilometers above the Earth's surface. The spacecraft will use a technique that involves measuring the microwave emission from oxygen molecules in the atmosphere, which is affected by the electrojets' magnetic fields. Each of the CubeSats will carry a Microwave Electrojet Magnetogram, an instrument that can observe the Zeeman effect, where the magnetic fields from the electrojets cause a splitting of microwave emissions from oxygen molecules. The strength and direction of these magnetic fields will help scientists understand the structure and evolution of the electrojets. This technology, developed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), has been miniaturized for use on small satellites and has previously been applied in missions such as TEMPEST-D and CubeRRT. Sam Yee, principal investigator for EZIE at the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL), called the Zeeman technique "a game-changing approach" for studying a region of space that is difficult to access directly. It lies too high for balloons but too low for conventional satellites. This new approach will enable scientists to make important measurements of the electrojets in a previously unexplored altitude range. The mission will also involve citizen scientists, with the distribution of EZIE-Mag magnetometer kits to students in the U.S. and volunteers worldwide. These participants will collect magnetic field data from the ground, which will be compared with the spacecraft's measurements, adding a valuable layer of data to the research. The EZIE CubeSats will launch aboard a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket from Vandenberg Space Force Base in California as part of the Transporter-13 rideshare mission. The timing of the launch during the solar maximum phase of the 11-year solar cycle is beneficial, as the electrojets are closely tied to solar activity, which is at its peak during this phase. EZIE is part of NASA's broader effort to study space weather, working alongside other missions like PUNCH (Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere), which is set to launch in late February to study the Sun's outer atmosphere and its role in the solar wind. The mission is a cost-effective, groundbreaking example of how small CubeSats can enable significant scientific discovery. "This mission couldn't have flown a decade ago," said Dan Kepko, a member of the EZIE team. "It's pushing the envelope of what's possible with small satellites." Funded by NASA's Heliophysics Division and managed by the Explorers Program Office at NASA Goddard, the EZIE mission is led by APL, with CubeSats built by Blue Canyon Technologies in Boulder, Colorado. This pioneering mission aims to advance understanding of the Earth-Sun connection and help safeguard human infrastructure from the impacts of space weather.
