Between October 11 and 13, the Sun unleashed a torrent of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Now, these powerful bursts of solar plasma and magnetic energy are on a collision course with Earth. Space weather forecasters expect them to arrive tonight and cause the northern lights—or Aurora Borealis—to stretch farther south than usual. NOAA’s Space Weather […]
Solar Storms Are Pushing Elon Musk’s Satellites Back to Earth
New research suggests that heightened solar activity shortens the lifespans of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites, and may send them careening back to Earth at greater velocities. Perhaps unintuitively, this could increase the risk of satellite debris making landfall. This preprint study, which has yet to undergo peer review, adds to a wealth of evidence showing that […]