IBEX and TWINS observe a solar storm
Thursday, April 12, 2012 - 18:30
in Astronomy & Space
On April 5, 2010, the sun spewed a two-million-mile-per-hour stream of charged particles toward the invisible magnetic fields surrounding Earth, known as the magnetosphere. As the particles interacted with the magnetic fields, the incoming stream of energy caused stormy conditions near Earth. Some scientists believe that it was this solar storm that interfered with commands to a communications satellite, Galaxy-15, which subsequently foundered and drifted, taking almost a year to return to its station.