wind

NASA set to deliver a knock-out PUNCH to mysteries of the solar wind

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An illustration of a silvery satellite above Earth.

The secrets of the solar wind will soon come under renewed scrutiny thanks to the launch of an upcoming NASA mission that will gaze at the sun and the inner solar system. The mission, called PUNCH, which stands for the Polarimeter to Unify the Corona and Heliosphere, is a constellation of four suitcase-sized satellites that … Read more

NASA’s launching a satellite constellation this month to study the solar wind in 3D

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The sun, for all its glitz, tends to hide behind a veil of mystery. For instance, its outer atmosphere, the corona, appears to be hotter than its surface — like, way hotter — and scientists aren’t sure why. There’s also a big puzzle concerning how the solar wind, which is a stream of charged particles … Read more