NASA’s New Shock Detectives Project Invites Volunteers to Help Study Solar Wind

Key points

• The Sun sprays an extremely fast stream of charged particles called the solar wind.
• At approximately 56,000 miles (90,000 kilometers) in front of the Earth toward the Sun, the solar wind collides with the Earth’s protective magnetic field, generating a long-lasting shock wave that stretches for hundreds of thousands of miles.
• Now, you can help scientists examine data about this “ bow shock ” to better understand how the solar wind affects the Earth by joining a new research project: Shock Detectives.
• At this enormous shock wave boundary, the ever-changing magnetic field can either make the solar wind messy and dynamic (“chaotic”) or leave it smooth and stable (“peaceful”).
• When “chaotic” plasma dominates, more energy can reach Earth’s magnetosphere, possibly leading to disruptions in GPS signals, communications, and power grids.