Auroras

Mysterious STEVE light emissions emanate from Earth’s magnetosphere

Dec. 13, 2021

Contributions from citizen scientists are helping researchers identify different types of aurora-like light emissions and constrain how and where in Earth’s atmosphere those light emissions are generated.

Members of the CU Boulder flight crew working on a RAAVEN drone in 2019 during a mission with a tornado in the distance.

Designing flying artificial intelligence systems to study supercell thunderstorms up close

Dec. 13, 2021

A team of CU Boulder scientists and engineers have landed a major grant to design next-generation uncrewed aircraft systems to fly into the heart of supercell thunderstorms that can spawn tornadoes.

Gravity waves imprinted on atmospheric airglow

NASA to fund LASP’s new OWLS instrument

Dec. 10, 2021

A new instrument to be built by the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics will help answer fundamental questions about gravity waves and improve the forecasting of satellite trajectories.

Artist's depiction of the star EK Draconis ejecting a coronal mass ejection as two planets orbit

A young sun-like star may hold warnings for life on Earth

Dec. 9, 2021

On April 2020, astronomers observed a gigantic burst of energy and charged particles erupting from the surface of a far away star called EK Draconis. The findings suggest that similar events could, theoretically, occur on our own sun––albeit rarely.

Artist’s representation of NASA’s Imaging X-ray Polarimetry Explorer (IXPE) in Earth’s orbit. Credit: NASA

Students, staff ready to operate NASA’s new IXPE mission to study black holes

Dec. 7, 2021

Years of preparation will culminate this week when LASP students and staff assume control of the nearly $200 million IXPE mission just after it lifts off from Cape Canaveral, Florida.

A glass block marks Saturn's spot in the solar system, along with its moons Tethys, Rhea and Dione.

Hear planets sing as you ‘walk’ through space in new solar system model

Dec. 7, 2021

For about 35 years, the Colorado Scale Model Solar System has delighted campus visitors by shrinking Earth's cosmic neighborhood down to a short walk. Now the exhibit is getting a new update and an interactive smartphone app.

Stock image of NASA probe in space

Tiny grains, severe damage: How hypervelocity dust impacts can damage a spacecraft

Nov. 12, 2021

New research out of the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics gives the most complete picture yet of how high-speed dust impacts may damage a spacecraft and disturb its operations.

The Andromeda Galaxy as seen by NASA's Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE)

Gravitational ‘kick’ may explain the strange shape at the center of Andromeda

Nov. 2, 2021

A new study dives into the explosive physics of what happens when two supermassive black holes collide.

Lightning strikes during storm

Lightning strikes may trigger short-term thinning in the ozone layer

Oct. 11, 2021

New research shows how a bizarre phenomenon that stretches from Earth's surface hundreds of miles into space can alter the chemistry of the atmosphere.

Image of the Chang'e 5 landing site taken from below the lander

First moon rocks in 45 years fill gap in lunar history

Oct. 7, 2021

China's Chang'e 5 mission landed in a region of the moon more than 850 miles from the nearest Apollo landing site. The rocks the mission collected are raising questions about how lava flowed across the lunar surface 2 billion years ago.

Pages