Space Weather: February 2020

When our sun belches out a hot stream of charged particles in Earth's general direction, it doesn't just mess up communications satellites. It might also be scrambling the navigational sense of California gray whales (Eschrichtius robustus), causing them to strand on land, according to a Duke University graduate student.

Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) may have major importance for planetary and stellar evolution. Stellar CME parameters, such as mass and velocity, have yet not been determined statistically.

Scientists funded in part by the NASA Astrobiology program are providing new insights into how terrestrial planets are affected by coronal mass ejections (CMEs) early in the formation of a stellar system.