For decades, satellites passing over Earth's north and south poles have experienced a flow of ions from the upper atmosphere into space. Dubbed the 'polar wind', the source of this flow had eluded ...

Space junk is a "persistent hazard," scientists say. Climate change could threaten the future use of satellites and significantly reduce the number of spacecraft that can safety orbit Earth, according ...

Saturn’s upper atmosphere and ionosphere constitute a complex system in which neutral and charged particles interact under the influence of external energy inputs, internal dynamics and ...

Rising CO₂ levels will make the upper atmosphere colder and thinner, altering how geomagnetic storms impact satellites. Future storms could cause sharper density spikes despite lower overall density, ...

Observations of Jupiter show that ammonia is unevenly distributed in the upper atmosphere, against expectations of uniform mixing. Scientists found evidence for a complicated but apparently real ...

The huge explosions that destroyed SpaceX’s Starship mega-rocket last year also blew one of the biggest ‘holes’ ever detected in the ionosphere, a layer of thin air in the upper atmosphere. The hole ...

On a special episode (first released on April 3, 2025) of The Excerpt podcast: What happens when today’s treasure – satellites that give us access to broadband internet and accurate weather forecasts ...

New mapping of the giant planet’s upper atmosphere reveals likely reason why it’s so hot. The upper layers in the atmospheres of gas giants — Saturn, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune — are hot, just like ...

Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers help with precise location tracking and can detect disturbances in the upper atmosphere (ionosphere) by measuring delays and changes in ...

A cross section of the upper atmosphere, or troposphere, of Jupiter, showing the depth of storms in a north-south swath that crosses the planet's equator, or equatorial zone (EZ). Blue and red ...