Solar Wind Interacting with Earth's Magnetic Field

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  • 
    ID: 13514 Produced Video

    The Cusp Aurora

    Dec. 20th, 2019
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    A conceptual animation showing electrons traveling down Earth's magnetic field lines, colliding into oxygen atoms in Earth's atmosphere and causing oxygen molecules to escape and release red light causing the cusp aurora. ||

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  • 
    ID: 13181 Animation

    Sounding Rocket Animations

    May 9th, 2019
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    A sounding rocket is able to carry science instruments between 30 - 300 miles above Earth's surface. These altitudes are typically too high for science balloons and too low for satellites to access safely making sounding rockets the only platforms that can carry out direct in situ measurements in these regions.This animation is annoted with the altitudes. || A sounding rocket is able to carry science instruments between 30 - 300 miles above Earth's surface. These altitudes are typically too high for science balloons and too low for satellites to access safely making sounding rockets the only platforms that can carry out direct in situ measurements in these regions.This animation is not annoted with the altitudes. ||

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  • 
    ID: 13167 Produced Video

    VISIONS-2 Aurora Imagery

    May 7th, 2019
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    Aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 6, 2018. A GIF optimized for Twitter. || Aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 6, 2018.Credit: NASA/Joy Ng || Aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 4, 2018.Credit: NASA/Joy Ng || Aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard on December 7, 2018. The green laser in the distance is the Koldewey Aerosol Raman Lidar that measures tiny particles in Earth's atmosphere.Credit: NASA/Joy Ng || The cusp aurora in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. It's a type of aurora that appears only during the day. It looks similar to aurora at night but when these iridescent lights appear, a hundred tons of atmosphere escapes into space. Scientists say this is a natural process that will occur over billions of years. Credit: NASA/Chris Pirner ||

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  • 
    ID: 13430 Produced Video

    Why NASA is sending rockets into Earth’s leaky atmosphere

    Nov. 14th, 2019
    (updated May 3rd, 2023)

    In the tiny Arctic town of Ny-Ålesund, where polar bears outnumber people, winter means three months without sunlight. The unending darkness is ideal for those who seek a strange breed of northern lights, normally obscured by daylight. When these unusual auroras shine, Earth’s atmosphere leaks into space.NASA scientists traveled to Ny-Ålesund to launch rockets through these auroras and witness oxygen particles right in the middle of their escape. Piercing these fleeting auroras, some 300 miles high, would require strategy, patience — and a fair bit of luck. This was NASA’s VISIONS-2 mission, and this is their story.VISIONS-2 was just the first of many. Over the coming months, rocket teams from all over the world will launch rockets into this region as part of the Grand Challenge Initiative—Cusp, an international collaboration to study the mysteries of the polar atmosphere. ||

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