Why no radio signals from aliens? Is space weather to blame?

The Very Large Array is a collection of 27 radio antennas located near Socorro, New Mexico. Each antenna in the array measures 82 feet (25 m) in diameter and weighs about 507,000 pounds (230 metric tons). These telescopes have been used for SETI, the search for radio signals from aliens. But, so far, no alien signals have been verified. Image via Alex Savello/ NRAO/ SETI Institute.

• Astronomers have searched for alien radio signals for decades. But there are still no confirmed detections. Is space weather to blame?
• Space weather is the flow of energy and particles from the sun and other stars through space. Its presence in space could disrupt some types of artificial radio signals, says a new study from the SETI Institute.
• The researchers found similar effects on human-made radio signals from spacecraft in our own solar system, as the craft encounter our sun’s space weather.

Why no radio signals from aliens?

For decades, astronomers have looked for radio signals from alien civilizations. They call this endeavor SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. But so far, they haven’t found any confirmed signals from aliens. Why not? On March 5, 2026, two researchers at the SETI Institute in Mountainview, California, offered an explanation.

They said the answer might be space weather from our sun and other stars. That is, the restless activity of our sun and other stars in our Milky Way galaxy – as they send energy and particles sweeping across space – might be making signals from aliens harder to detect. So things like our sun’s solar wind (or the stellar winds from other stars) and the coronal mass ejections (great burps of material from our sun and other stars) might cause artificial signals to broaden and weaken so that they become unrecognizable. They said a signal might be “blurred” before it ever leaves its home star system.

In fact, the researchers say that our sun’s space weather affects radio signals close to home, including signals from spacecraft in our own solar system.

The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in The Astrophysical Journal on March 5, 2026.

The new study offers a possible explanation for why astronomers haven’t found any confirmed extraterrestrial radio signals yet. Image via Breakthrough Listen/ Danielle Futselaar/ SETI Institute.

What is space weather?

Overall, space weather includes a constant stream of turbulent charged particles (mostly electrons and protons) flowing outward from our sun’s outer atmosphere. We call this stream of particles the solar wind when speaking of our sun and solar system. We call it stellar wind when speaking of other stars.

Space weather also includes coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or great burps of solar materials and magnetic fields that leave the sun’s surface and travel across space.

When strong streams of solar wind or strong CMEs reach Earth, they can create displays of beautiful auroras. But they can also affect earthly technologies such as power grids on Earth’s surface and satellites in space.

Search for narrowband radio signals

Meanwhile, for the most part, SETI astronomers have focused most of their efforts on the search for intelligent radio signals. They typically search for narrowband radio signals, which occupy a narrow range of frequencies or have a small fractional bandwidth. On Earth, these sorts of signals are typically artificial, not natural. That’s why astronomers look for them in space as possible evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations. They are unlikely to be produced by natural earthly or astrophysical phenomena.

In fact, astronomers have made some detections of such narrowband signals. But they haven’t been able to verify any of them as artificial. Usually the signals have turned out to be earthly interference. Or the signals didn’t repeat, so that astronomers could re-observe them. In that case, we don’t know what they are.

PRESS RELEASEA new study by researchers at the SETI Institute suggests stellar “space weather” could make radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligence harder to detect. Stellar activity and plasma turbulence near a transmitting planet can broaden… ?

— SETI Institute (@setiinstitute.bsky.social) 2026-03-05T18:04:09.569Z

Does space weather affect alien radio signals?

But now, two researchers at the SETI Institute, Vishal Gajjar and Grayce C. Brown, have proposed a possible explanation for the dearth of signals. Intriguingly, they suggest that space weather might be to blame. Space weather is the environment around a star – including our own sun – where stellar winds of charged particles (plasma) stream out from the star. There can be turbulence in those winds, just like turbulence in our atmosphere. Coronal mass ejections are also part of space weather. These are huge eruptions of plasma from the surface of a star.

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Vishal Gajjar at the SETI Institute is the lead author of the new study about alien radio signals and space weather. Image via Vishal Gajjar.

Space weather could distort narrowband alien radio signals

The new study found that space weather can “smear” a narrowband signal, making it more diffuse and weaker. This happens before the signal has even left the star system it originated from. So, by the time astronomers here on Earth detect it, it is already blurred so much as to be almost indistinguishable from natural broadband signals. Lead author Gajjar said:

SETI searches are often optimized for extremely narrow signals. If a signal gets broadened by its own star’s environment, it can slip below our detection thresholds, even if it’s there, potentially helping explain some of the radio silence we’ve seen in technosignature searches.

View larger. | Illustration of how space weather from the sun can affect communications, satellites, aircraft and more on Earth. Image via ESA/ Science Office (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO).

Spacecraft in our solar system

The researchers tested the hypothesis further by using radio signals from active spacecraft in our own solar system. Our sun emits plasma in the solar wind. With this in mind, the researchers calibrated how the plasma broadens the narrowband radio signals from the spacecraft. Then, they extrapolated those results to a wide range of different stellar environments around various stars.

The results show how space weather can affect narrowband radio signals around different types of stars. This is true for red dwarf stars in particular, which are very active and emit more radiation and plasma than our sun. Plus, they are the most numerous type of star in our galaxy. Astronomers could now adapt future searches with the new findings in mind. As co-author Brown noted:

By quantifying how stellar activity can reshape narrowband signals, we can design searches that are better matched to what actually arrives at Earth, not just what might be transmitted.

View larger. | This artist’s concept of Europa Clipper shows the spacecraft silhouetted against Europa’s surface. Clipper will arrive at Jupiter in April 2030. The researchers studied the effects of space weather from the sun on spacecraft in the solar system. They found similar effects on radio signals from the spacecraft as postulated for alien radio signals from other star systems. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.

Bottom line: Astronomers have looked for radio signals from aliens for decades. But none have been confirmed. A new study says space weather could make their detection difficult.

Source: Exo–IPM Scattering as a Hidden Gatekeeper of Narrowband Technosignatures

Via Space Institute

Read more: SETI@home takes a closer look at 100 notable signals

Read more: Strange double starlight pulses revealed in new SETI search

The post Why no radio signals from aliens? Is space weather to blame? first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/zvxQy84

The Very Large Array is a collection of 27 radio antennas located near Socorro, New Mexico. Each antenna in the array measures 82 feet (25 m) in diameter and weighs about 507,000 pounds (230 metric tons). These telescopes have been used for SETI, the search for radio signals from aliens. But, so far, no alien signals have been verified. Image via Alex Savello/ NRAO/ SETI Institute.

• Astronomers have searched for alien radio signals for decades. But there are still no confirmed detections. Is space weather to blame?
• Space weather is the flow of energy and particles from the sun and other stars through space. Its presence in space could disrupt some types of artificial radio signals, says a new study from the SETI Institute.
• The researchers found similar effects on human-made radio signals from spacecraft in our own solar system, as the craft encounter our sun’s space weather.

Why no radio signals from aliens?

For decades, astronomers have looked for radio signals from alien civilizations. They call this endeavor SETI, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. But so far, they haven’t found any confirmed signals from aliens. Why not? On March 5, 2026, two researchers at the SETI Institute in Mountainview, California, offered an explanation.

They said the answer might be space weather from our sun and other stars. That is, the restless activity of our sun and other stars in our Milky Way galaxy – as they send energy and particles sweeping across space – might be making signals from aliens harder to detect. So things like our sun’s solar wind (or the stellar winds from other stars) and the coronal mass ejections (great burps of material from our sun and other stars) might cause artificial signals to broaden and weaken so that they become unrecognizable. They said a signal might be “blurred” before it ever leaves its home star system.

In fact, the researchers say that our sun’s space weather affects radio signals close to home, including signals from spacecraft in our own solar system.

The researchers published their peer-reviewed findings in The Astrophysical Journal on March 5, 2026.

The new study offers a possible explanation for why astronomers haven’t found any confirmed extraterrestrial radio signals yet. Image via Breakthrough Listen/ Danielle Futselaar/ SETI Institute.

What is space weather?

Overall, space weather includes a constant stream of turbulent charged particles (mostly electrons and protons) flowing outward from our sun’s outer atmosphere. We call this stream of particles the solar wind when speaking of our sun and solar system. We call it stellar wind when speaking of other stars.

Space weather also includes coronal mass ejections (CMEs), or great burps of solar materials and magnetic fields that leave the sun’s surface and travel across space.

When strong streams of solar wind or strong CMEs reach Earth, they can create displays of beautiful auroras. But they can also affect earthly technologies such as power grids on Earth’s surface and satellites in space.

Search for narrowband radio signals

Meanwhile, for the most part, SETI astronomers have focused most of their efforts on the search for intelligent radio signals. They typically search for narrowband radio signals, which occupy a narrow range of frequencies or have a small fractional bandwidth. On Earth, these sorts of signals are typically artificial, not natural. That’s why astronomers look for them in space as possible evidence of extraterrestrial civilizations. They are unlikely to be produced by natural earthly or astrophysical phenomena.

In fact, astronomers have made some detections of such narrowband signals. But they haven’t been able to verify any of them as artificial. Usually the signals have turned out to be earthly interference. Or the signals didn’t repeat, so that astronomers could re-observe them. In that case, we don’t know what they are.

PRESS RELEASEA new study by researchers at the SETI Institute suggests stellar “space weather” could make radio signals from extraterrestrial intelligence harder to detect. Stellar activity and plasma turbulence near a transmitting planet can broaden… ?

— SETI Institute (@setiinstitute.bsky.social) 2026-03-05T18:04:09.569Z

Does space weather affect alien radio signals?

But now, two researchers at the SETI Institute, Vishal Gajjar and Grayce C. Brown, have proposed a possible explanation for the dearth of signals. Intriguingly, they suggest that space weather might be to blame. Space weather is the environment around a star – including our own sun – where stellar winds of charged particles (plasma) stream out from the star. There can be turbulence in those winds, just like turbulence in our atmosphere. Coronal mass ejections are also part of space weather. These are huge eruptions of plasma from the surface of a star.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

Vishal Gajjar at the SETI Institute is the lead author of the new study about alien radio signals and space weather. Image via Vishal Gajjar.

Space weather could distort narrowband alien radio signals

The new study found that space weather can “smear” a narrowband signal, making it more diffuse and weaker. This happens before the signal has even left the star system it originated from. So, by the time astronomers here on Earth detect it, it is already blurred so much as to be almost indistinguishable from natural broadband signals. Lead author Gajjar said:

SETI searches are often optimized for extremely narrow signals. If a signal gets broadened by its own star’s environment, it can slip below our detection thresholds, even if it’s there, potentially helping explain some of the radio silence we’ve seen in technosignature searches.

View larger. | Illustration of how space weather from the sun can affect communications, satellites, aircraft and more on Earth. Image via ESA/ Science Office (CC BY-SA 3.0 IGO).

Spacecraft in our solar system

The researchers tested the hypothesis further by using radio signals from active spacecraft in our own solar system. Our sun emits plasma in the solar wind. With this in mind, the researchers calibrated how the plasma broadens the narrowband radio signals from the spacecraft. Then, they extrapolated those results to a wide range of different stellar environments around various stars.

The results show how space weather can affect narrowband radio signals around different types of stars. This is true for red dwarf stars in particular, which are very active and emit more radiation and plasma than our sun. Plus, they are the most numerous type of star in our galaxy. Astronomers could now adapt future searches with the new findings in mind. As co-author Brown noted:

By quantifying how stellar activity can reshape narrowband signals, we can design searches that are better matched to what actually arrives at Earth, not just what might be transmitted.

View larger. | This artist’s concept of Europa Clipper shows the spacecraft silhouetted against Europa’s surface. Clipper will arrive at Jupiter in April 2030. The researchers studied the effects of space weather from the sun on spacecraft in the solar system. They found similar effects on radio signals from the spacecraft as postulated for alien radio signals from other star systems. Image via NASA/ JPL-Caltech.

Bottom line: Astronomers have looked for radio signals from aliens for decades. But none have been confirmed. A new study says space weather could make their detection difficult.

Source: Exo–IPM Scattering as a Hidden Gatekeeper of Narrowband Technosignatures

Via Space Institute

Read more: SETI@home takes a closer look at 100 notable signals

Read more: Strange double starlight pulses revealed in new SETI search

The post Why no radio signals from aliens? Is space weather to blame? first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/zvxQy84

Summer Triangle: A signpost for all seasons

The Summer Triangle consists of 3 bright stars in 3 separate constellations: Vega, Deneb and Altair. Chart via EarthSky.

Summer Triangle: Watch before dawn

Before sunup on March mornings, look for the Summer Triangle. Although it’s not summer at our northern latitudes, the Summer Triangle’s three bright stars – Vega, Deneb and Altair – are visible now in the east before sunrise. They’re all 1st-magnitude stars and the brightest stars in their constellations. The three stars are: Vega in Lyra the Harp, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan and Altair in Aquila the Eagle.

The Summer Triangle isn’t one of the officially recognized 88 constellations. Like the Big Dipper, it’s what’s called an asterism, a pattern of stars that’s easy to pick out.

For much of the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Triangle stars are up for at least part of the night every night of the year. Are you in the Southern Hemisphere? You probably won’t see the entire Summer Triangle yet before sunup from your part of the world. The star Deneb will be challenging to find in the glare of sunrise at southern temperate latitudes.

To gauge the size of the Summer Triangle, hold a one-foot (30cm) ruler at arm’s length from your eye. The ruler (about 1/3 of a meter) pretty much fills the gap between Vega and Altair, the Summer Triangle’s 1st- and 2nd-brightest stars, respectively.

Under a dark sky and on a moonless night, the Great Rift passes right through the Summer Triangle. Also, in this image we can see the asterism of the Summer Triangle, a giant triangle in the sky composed of the three bright stars Vega (top left), Altair (lower middle) and Deneb (far left). Image via NASA/ A. Fujii/ ESA.

Prominent after sunset around the northern summer solstice

Like all the stars, the stars of the Summer Triangle rise four minutes earlier with each passing day. That also means, the stars rise two hours earlier with each passing month. Why is this happening? It’s happening because Earth is orbiting the sun, and our night sky is pointing outward toward an ever-changing panorama of stars.

Around May 1, the Summer Triangle will climb over the eastern horizon around local midnight (1 a.m. daylight saving time).

When middle to late June comes rolling along, you’ll see the Summer Triangle sparkling in the east at evening dusk. Watch for it around the time of the June solstice. It’s a sure sign of summer’s return to the Northern Hemisphere.

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View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steve Wilson captured this image on October 8, 2023, from Kansas and wrote: “Went out to a dark sky site south of Salina, Kansas to the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge to take this photo of the Milky Way and the Summer Triangle.” Thank you, Steve!

Bottom line: Watch for the three bright stars of the Summer Triangle – Vega, Deneb and Altair – before dawn in March, before midnight in May and at dusk near the June solstice.

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The Summer Triangle consists of 3 bright stars in 3 separate constellations: Vega, Deneb and Altair. Chart via EarthSky.

Summer Triangle: Watch before dawn

Before sunup on March mornings, look for the Summer Triangle. Although it’s not summer at our northern latitudes, the Summer Triangle’s three bright stars – Vega, Deneb and Altair – are visible now in the east before sunrise. They’re all 1st-magnitude stars and the brightest stars in their constellations. The three stars are: Vega in Lyra the Harp, Deneb in Cygnus the Swan and Altair in Aquila the Eagle.

The Summer Triangle isn’t one of the officially recognized 88 constellations. Like the Big Dipper, it’s what’s called an asterism, a pattern of stars that’s easy to pick out.

For much of the Northern Hemisphere, the Summer Triangle stars are up for at least part of the night every night of the year. Are you in the Southern Hemisphere? You probably won’t see the entire Summer Triangle yet before sunup from your part of the world. The star Deneb will be challenging to find in the glare of sunrise at southern temperate latitudes.

To gauge the size of the Summer Triangle, hold a one-foot (30cm) ruler at arm’s length from your eye. The ruler (about 1/3 of a meter) pretty much fills the gap between Vega and Altair, the Summer Triangle’s 1st- and 2nd-brightest stars, respectively.

Under a dark sky and on a moonless night, the Great Rift passes right through the Summer Triangle. Also, in this image we can see the asterism of the Summer Triangle, a giant triangle in the sky composed of the three bright stars Vega (top left), Altair (lower middle) and Deneb (far left). Image via NASA/ A. Fujii/ ESA.

Prominent after sunset around the northern summer solstice

Like all the stars, the stars of the Summer Triangle rise four minutes earlier with each passing day. That also means, the stars rise two hours earlier with each passing month. Why is this happening? It’s happening because Earth is orbiting the sun, and our night sky is pointing outward toward an ever-changing panorama of stars.

Around May 1, the Summer Triangle will climb over the eastern horizon around local midnight (1 a.m. daylight saving time).

When middle to late June comes rolling along, you’ll see the Summer Triangle sparkling in the east at evening dusk. Watch for it around the time of the June solstice. It’s a sure sign of summer’s return to the Northern Hemisphere.

EarthSky astronomy kits are perfect for beginners. Order today from the EarthSky store

Enjoying EarthSky so far? Sign up for our free daily newsletter today!

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Steve Wilson captured this image on October 8, 2023, from Kansas and wrote: “Went out to a dark sky site south of Salina, Kansas to the Maxwell Wildlife Refuge to take this photo of the Milky Way and the Summer Triangle.” Thank you, Steve!

Bottom line: Watch for the three bright stars of the Summer Triangle – Vega, Deneb and Altair – before dawn in March, before midnight in May and at dusk near the June solstice.

The post Summer Triangle: A signpost for all seasons first appeared on EarthSky.

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Mizar and Alcor in the bend of the Big Dipper

View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Abdul Thomas captured this image through a telescope in Leeds on February 2, 2024, and said: “Mizar and Alcor, a double star system in the northern constellation of Ursa Major the Great Bear. These 2 stars are clearly visible with the unaided eye and located on the handle of The Plough (Big Dipper) asterism.” Thank you, Abdul!

Mizar and Alcor

Mizar and its fainter companion star Alcor make up one of the most famous double stars in the sky. These two stars are bound to one another by gravity. And they’re located in the famous Big Dipper, an asterism which is ascending in the northeast on February and March evenings. You can spot this pair easily, and it’s lots of fun to see them! Look at the middle star in the Dipper’s handle. You’ll spot Mizar first, because it’s brighter. Look closely, and you’ll see fainter Alcor right next to Mizar.

Historically, Mizar and Alcor are a test of eyesight. But even people with less-than-perfect eyesight can see the two stars, especially if they’re looking in a dark, clear sky. This pair of stars in the Big Dipper’s handle has the nickname of horse and rider. If you can’t see fainter Alcor with the unaided eye, use binoculars to see Mizar’s nearby companion.

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On February and March evenings, the Big Dipper is ascending in the northeast. The famous star pair Mizar and Alcor is the 2nd star to the end of the Dipper’s handle. Look closely, and you’ll see the 2 points of light. Mizar is the brighter one, and Alcor is the fainter one.

Mizar alone is a quadruple star

Mizar is perhaps the Big Dipper’s most famous star, glorified in the annals of astronomy many times over. Apart from Alcor, Mizar by itself is a double star. In fact, it was the first double star known. An Italian astronomer brought it to the attention of Galileo in 1617. A third Italian astronomer, Giovanni Battista Riccioli, wrote about Mizar as a double star.

Few, if any, astronomers back then even dreamed that double stars were anything other than chance alignments of physically unrelated stars. Yet, in 1889, a spectroscope revealed that the brighter component of Mizar’s two stars consisted of two stars itself. This made Mizar the first binary star ever discovered by spectroscopic means.

Later, Mizar’s dimmer telescopic component also showed itself to be a spectroscopic binary, meaning that Mizar consists of two sets of binaries, making it a quadruple star.

Mizar and Alcor. Mizar is the brighter of the two. Image via Fred Espenak/ AstroPixels.com. Used with permission.

And Alcor is double

As for Alcor, scientists long believed that Mizar and Alcor were not gravitationally bound and did not form a true binary star system. Not until 2009 did our knowledge expand. Two groups of astronomers independently reported that Alcor is itself a binary, consisting of Alcor A and Alcor B. Astronomers now believe that the Alcor binary system is gravitationally bound to the Mizar quadruple system. That makes this “double” star six stars in all, but we can only see two with the unaided eye.

Mizar and Alcor have proven to not only be a test of human eyesight, but a test of the limits of our technological vision as well.

Located in the handle of the Big Dipper, Mizar (brighter at right center) and Alcor (fainter and centered) make up one of the most famous visual double stars in the sky. Image via ESO/ Online Digitized Sky Survey.

Bottom line: Famous star pair Mizar and Alcor is easy to find in the handle of the Big Dipper. Mizar is really four stars, and Alcor is two stars. So what we see as two stars are really six in one!

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View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Abdul Thomas captured this image through a telescope in Leeds on February 2, 2024, and said: “Mizar and Alcor, a double star system in the northern constellation of Ursa Major the Great Bear. These 2 stars are clearly visible with the unaided eye and located on the handle of The Plough (Big Dipper) asterism.” Thank you, Abdul!

Mizar and Alcor

Mizar and its fainter companion star Alcor make up one of the most famous double stars in the sky. These two stars are bound to one another by gravity. And they’re located in the famous Big Dipper, an asterism which is ascending in the northeast on February and March evenings. You can spot this pair easily, and it’s lots of fun to see them! Look at the middle star in the Dipper’s handle. You’ll spot Mizar first, because it’s brighter. Look closely, and you’ll see fainter Alcor right next to Mizar.

Historically, Mizar and Alcor are a test of eyesight. But even people with less-than-perfect eyesight can see the two stars, especially if they’re looking in a dark, clear sky. This pair of stars in the Big Dipper’s handle has the nickname of horse and rider. If you can’t see fainter Alcor with the unaided eye, use binoculars to see Mizar’s nearby companion.

EarthSky lunar calendars are back in stock! And we’re guaranteed to sell out, so get one while you can. Your support means the world to us and allows us to keep going. Purchase here.

On February and March evenings, the Big Dipper is ascending in the northeast. The famous star pair Mizar and Alcor is the 2nd star to the end of the Dipper’s handle. Look closely, and you’ll see the 2 points of light. Mizar is the brighter one, and Alcor is the fainter one.

Mizar alone is a quadruple star

Mizar is perhaps the Big Dipper’s most famous star, glorified in the annals of astronomy many times over. Apart from Alcor, Mizar by itself is a double star. In fact, it was the first double star known. An Italian astronomer brought it to the attention of Galileo in 1617. A third Italian astronomer, Giovanni Battista Riccioli, wrote about Mizar as a double star.

Few, if any, astronomers back then even dreamed that double stars were anything other than chance alignments of physically unrelated stars. Yet, in 1889, a spectroscope revealed that the brighter component of Mizar’s two stars consisted of two stars itself. This made Mizar the first binary star ever discovered by spectroscopic means.

Later, Mizar’s dimmer telescopic component also showed itself to be a spectroscopic binary, meaning that Mizar consists of two sets of binaries, making it a quadruple star.

Mizar and Alcor. Mizar is the brighter of the two. Image via Fred Espenak/ AstroPixels.com. Used with permission.

And Alcor is double

As for Alcor, scientists long believed that Mizar and Alcor were not gravitationally bound and did not form a true binary star system. Not until 2009 did our knowledge expand. Two groups of astronomers independently reported that Alcor is itself a binary, consisting of Alcor A and Alcor B. Astronomers now believe that the Alcor binary system is gravitationally bound to the Mizar quadruple system. That makes this “double” star six stars in all, but we can only see two with the unaided eye.

Mizar and Alcor have proven to not only be a test of human eyesight, but a test of the limits of our technological vision as well.

Located in the handle of the Big Dipper, Mizar (brighter at right center) and Alcor (fainter and centered) make up one of the most famous visual double stars in the sky. Image via ESO/ Online Digitized Sky Survey.

Bottom line: Famous star pair Mizar and Alcor is easy to find in the handle of the Big Dipper. Mizar is really four stars, and Alcor is two stars. So what we see as two stars are really six in one!

The post Mizar and Alcor in the bend of the Big Dipper first appeared on EarthSky.

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Meet the constellation Lynx, overhead in March

The constellation Lynx lies far in the north and passes overhead in the Northern Hemisphere on March evenings. It resides not far from Gemini’s twin stars, Castor and Pollux.

The constellation of the Lynx, named for the wild cat, may be dim, but it holds a few notable deep-sky objects, including the strange globular cluster known as the Intergalactic Wanderer. March is a great time to view Lynx when it’s positioned high in the sky, passing overhead for those in the Northern Hemisphere. Learn more about the constellation’s stars and how to find it.

The creation of the constellation Lynx

The Lynx is another constellation, similar to Lacerta and Leo Minor, that astronomer Johannes Hevelius created out of the vast darkness between major constellations in the late 1600s. Hevelius supposedly named this smattering of dim stars for a lynx, due to its fine eyesight. It would take someone with equally fine eyesight to discern the form of a lynx here.

View larger. | The constellation Lynx keeps company with many other animals in the sky, including a giraffe, bear, lion and crab. Image via Stellarium.

Finding the constellation Lynx

The Lynx is located between well-known constellations. Look for it in front of the nose and front paws of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. On the opposite side from Ursa Major, Lynx is bordered by Castor and Pollux the Twins and Auriga the Charioteer with its brilliant star Capella. If you can find Ursa Major and Auriga, the quiet dark space between them is the home of the Lynx.

View larger. | The constellation Lynx may be subtle, but the surrounding constellations are not. Lynx lies in front of the bear’s head in Ursa Major. The bright star Capella in Auriga the Charioteer is on the other side of Lynx from Ursa Major. The Twin stars Castor and Pollux are to the west. Image via Stellarium.

The stars of the Lynx

The two brightest stars in Lynx lie together in the very corner of the constellation. Find them under Ursa Major’s front paws and above the head of Leo the Lion. The star closer to Leo is Alpha Lyncis at magnitude 3.14. It lies 222 light-years away. The star above it, at magnitude 3.82, has the designation 38 Lyncis. It lies at a distance of 122 light-years from us.

The stars of Lynx form a crooked line. The constellation lies above the 2 bright stars in Gemini the Twins. Lynx’s 2 brightest stars lie in the bottom corner in this chart. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Galaxies in the constellation Lynx

The brightest galaxy in Lynx is about six degrees from the stars Alpha and 38 Lyncis. Look in the direction of Castor and Pollux in Gemini. This galaxy, NGC 2683, also lies straight up from the constellation Cancer. If you extend a line from the Beehive Cluster at the center of Cancer through the star Iota Cancri, you’ll come to NGC 2683 just across the border in Lynx. NGC 2683 has a magnitude of 9.69 (seeing it requires at least a medium-sized telescope) and lies 16 million light-years away. This spiral galaxy, which bears the nickname the UFO Galaxy, is oriented nearly edge-on from our perspective.

The Hubble Space Telescope took this image of the spiral galaxy NGC 2683. It has the nickname the UFO Galaxy. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Another notable galaxy, near the center of the constellation, is the Bear Paw Galaxy, or NGC 2537. It’s a challengingly faint dwarf galaxy with a magnitude of 11.7. It consists of a half circle shape with a line sticking out of it. Does it look like a bear’s paw to you?

The Bear Paw Galaxy, NGC 2537, has a magnitude of 11.7. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

The Intergalactic Wanderer

The last deep-sky target we’ll cover in Lynx is the Intergalactic Wanderer, NGC 2419. It lies seven degrees from the star Castor, when heading north in the direction of Polaris. The Intergalactic Wanderer is a globular cluster shining at magnitude 10.4. You will need a large telescope to see it. An unnamed magnitude 7.2 star lies beside NGC 2419.

This globular cluster got its name because it’s at such a tremendous distance from us; approximately 300,000 light-years away. Normal globular clusters are huge groupings of stars that are gravitationally bound to a galaxy and rotate around it, outside of the central region of a galaxy.

But the Intergalactic Wanderer is even farther away from the Milky Way than some of our galaxy’s satellite galaxies, such as the Magellanic Clouds. Therefore, the Intergalactic Wanderer seems to be near the theoretical limit for globular clusters bound to our galaxy.

NGC 2419, or the Intergalactic Wanderer, is a globular star cluster that lies farther away from our Milky Way galaxy than its largest satellite galaxies. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: The constellation Lynx represents a cat and passes high overhead in March skies for the Northern Hemisphere. Learn its stars and deep-sky objects.

The post Meet the constellation Lynx, overhead in March first appeared on EarthSky.

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The constellation Lynx lies far in the north and passes overhead in the Northern Hemisphere on March evenings. It resides not far from Gemini’s twin stars, Castor and Pollux.

The constellation of the Lynx, named for the wild cat, may be dim, but it holds a few notable deep-sky objects, including the strange globular cluster known as the Intergalactic Wanderer. March is a great time to view Lynx when it’s positioned high in the sky, passing overhead for those in the Northern Hemisphere. Learn more about the constellation’s stars and how to find it.

The creation of the constellation Lynx

The Lynx is another constellation, similar to Lacerta and Leo Minor, that astronomer Johannes Hevelius created out of the vast darkness between major constellations in the late 1600s. Hevelius supposedly named this smattering of dim stars for a lynx, due to its fine eyesight. It would take someone with equally fine eyesight to discern the form of a lynx here.

View larger. | The constellation Lynx keeps company with many other animals in the sky, including a giraffe, bear, lion and crab. Image via Stellarium.

Finding the constellation Lynx

The Lynx is located between well-known constellations. Look for it in front of the nose and front paws of Ursa Major, the Great Bear. On the opposite side from Ursa Major, Lynx is bordered by Castor and Pollux the Twins and Auriga the Charioteer with its brilliant star Capella. If you can find Ursa Major and Auriga, the quiet dark space between them is the home of the Lynx.

View larger. | The constellation Lynx may be subtle, but the surrounding constellations are not. Lynx lies in front of the bear’s head in Ursa Major. The bright star Capella in Auriga the Charioteer is on the other side of Lynx from Ursa Major. The Twin stars Castor and Pollux are to the west. Image via Stellarium.

The stars of the Lynx

The two brightest stars in Lynx lie together in the very corner of the constellation. Find them under Ursa Major’s front paws and above the head of Leo the Lion. The star closer to Leo is Alpha Lyncis at magnitude 3.14. It lies 222 light-years away. The star above it, at magnitude 3.82, has the designation 38 Lyncis. It lies at a distance of 122 light-years from us.

The stars of Lynx form a crooked line. The constellation lies above the 2 bright stars in Gemini the Twins. Lynx’s 2 brightest stars lie in the bottom corner in this chart. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Galaxies in the constellation Lynx

The brightest galaxy in Lynx is about six degrees from the stars Alpha and 38 Lyncis. Look in the direction of Castor and Pollux in Gemini. This galaxy, NGC 2683, also lies straight up from the constellation Cancer. If you extend a line from the Beehive Cluster at the center of Cancer through the star Iota Cancri, you’ll come to NGC 2683 just across the border in Lynx. NGC 2683 has a magnitude of 9.69 (seeing it requires at least a medium-sized telescope) and lies 16 million light-years away. This spiral galaxy, which bears the nickname the UFO Galaxy, is oriented nearly edge-on from our perspective.

The Hubble Space Telescope took this image of the spiral galaxy NGC 2683. It has the nickname the UFO Galaxy. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Another notable galaxy, near the center of the constellation, is the Bear Paw Galaxy, or NGC 2537. It’s a challengingly faint dwarf galaxy with a magnitude of 11.7. It consists of a half circle shape with a line sticking out of it. Does it look like a bear’s paw to you?

The Bear Paw Galaxy, NGC 2537, has a magnitude of 11.7. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

The Intergalactic Wanderer

The last deep-sky target we’ll cover in Lynx is the Intergalactic Wanderer, NGC 2419. It lies seven degrees from the star Castor, when heading north in the direction of Polaris. The Intergalactic Wanderer is a globular cluster shining at magnitude 10.4. You will need a large telescope to see it. An unnamed magnitude 7.2 star lies beside NGC 2419.

This globular cluster got its name because it’s at such a tremendous distance from us; approximately 300,000 light-years away. Normal globular clusters are huge groupings of stars that are gravitationally bound to a galaxy and rotate around it, outside of the central region of a galaxy.

But the Intergalactic Wanderer is even farther away from the Milky Way than some of our galaxy’s satellite galaxies, such as the Magellanic Clouds. Therefore, the Intergalactic Wanderer seems to be near the theoretical limit for globular clusters bound to our galaxy.

NGC 2419, or the Intergalactic Wanderer, is a globular star cluster that lies farther away from our Milky Way galaxy than its largest satellite galaxies. Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: The constellation Lynx represents a cat and passes high overhead in March skies for the Northern Hemisphere. Learn its stars and deep-sky objects.

The post Meet the constellation Lynx, overhead in March first appeared on EarthSky.

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Death Valley superbloom 2026: Best in a decade

The Death Valley superbloom is happening now. It’s the best display of spring wildflowers since 2016. Image via National Park Service.

Death Valley superbloom 2026

For the first time in a decade, Death Valley National Park is experiencing a superbloom. Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in North America. While the park normally sees about 2 inches of rain in a year, it had 2.5 inches – more than a year’s worth – between November and January. The extra rain awakened dormant seeds, providing the first superbloom in Death Valley since 2016.

The National Park Service (NPS) said:

We are having the best bloom year since 2016 and many sprouts have not yet flowered. The showy yellow Desert Gold is one of the most prominent flowers, but there are a large variety of other species blooming as well. Low-elevation flowers are blooming throughout the park and will likely persist until mid-late March, depending on the weather. Higher elevations will have blooms April-June.

A rare spectacle

Superblooms don’t happen on a schedule, but they occur about once a decade. The past superblooms have been in 2016, 2005 and 1998. The extra abundance of flowers can also attract more pollinators, so keep an eye out for more bees, butterflies, birds and more.

This rare and short-lived phenomenon is important to the desert ecosystem. The NPS said:

In Death Valley National park, most of the showy desert wildflowers are annuals, also referred to as ephemerals because they are short-lived. Oddly enough, this limited lifespan ensures survival here. Rather than struggle to stay alive during the desert’s most extreme conditions, annual wildflowers lie dormant as seeds. When enough rain finally does fall, the seeds quickly sprout, grow, bloom and go back to seed again before the dryness and heat returns. By blooming en masse during good years, wildflowers can attract large numbers of pollinators such as butterflies, moths, bees and hummingbirds that might not otherwise visit Death Valley.

@accuweather

The Death Valley superbloom is underway! ? Colorful flowers are blanketing parts of the hottest place in North America. Park officials say it’s the best superbloom since 2016.

? original sound – AccuWeather

Are you planning to visit the park this spring?

Here’s what you need to know if you’re planning to visit the park this spring. First, be patient! There will be many others visiting also, but it’s a huge park with space for everyone. Traffic might be slow, but you will eventually get to that picture-perfect site.

As of March 7, 2026, here are the best spots for wildflower viewing and what’s blooming, according to the National Park Service:

• North Badwater Rd (between CA190 and Badwater Basin): Desert Gold, Brown-eyed Primrose
• South Badwater Rd (near Ashford Mill): Desert Gold, Sand Verbena, Five Spot, Brown-eyed Primrose
• Highway 190 (between Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek): Gravel Ghost, Phacelia, Desert Gold, Mojave Desert Star
• Beatty Cutoff: Phacelia, Desert Gold, Gravel Ghost

To keep up-to-date on what’s blooming and where, visit the NPS website.

And, of course, don’t pick the wildflowers! Capture them only with your camera. And if you get a great photo, submit it to us!

Bottom line: A Death Valley superbloom is happening now! This rare event only happens about every decade. Read more about what flowers are blooming and where in Death Valley National Park.

The post Death Valley superbloom 2026: Best in a decade first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/lrsXaIU

The Death Valley superbloom is happening now. It’s the best display of spring wildflowers since 2016. Image via National Park Service.

Death Valley superbloom 2026

For the first time in a decade, Death Valley National Park is experiencing a superbloom. Death Valley is the hottest and driest place in North America. While the park normally sees about 2 inches of rain in a year, it had 2.5 inches – more than a year’s worth – between November and January. The extra rain awakened dormant seeds, providing the first superbloom in Death Valley since 2016.

The National Park Service (NPS) said:

We are having the best bloom year since 2016 and many sprouts have not yet flowered. The showy yellow Desert Gold is one of the most prominent flowers, but there are a large variety of other species blooming as well. Low-elevation flowers are blooming throughout the park and will likely persist until mid-late March, depending on the weather. Higher elevations will have blooms April-June.

A rare spectacle

Superblooms don’t happen on a schedule, but they occur about once a decade. The past superblooms have been in 2016, 2005 and 1998. The extra abundance of flowers can also attract more pollinators, so keep an eye out for more bees, butterflies, birds and more.

This rare and short-lived phenomenon is important to the desert ecosystem. The NPS said:

In Death Valley National park, most of the showy desert wildflowers are annuals, also referred to as ephemerals because they are short-lived. Oddly enough, this limited lifespan ensures survival here. Rather than struggle to stay alive during the desert’s most extreme conditions, annual wildflowers lie dormant as seeds. When enough rain finally does fall, the seeds quickly sprout, grow, bloom and go back to seed again before the dryness and heat returns. By blooming en masse during good years, wildflowers can attract large numbers of pollinators such as butterflies, moths, bees and hummingbirds that might not otherwise visit Death Valley.

@accuweather

The Death Valley superbloom is underway! ? Colorful flowers are blanketing parts of the hottest place in North America. Park officials say it’s the best superbloom since 2016.

? original sound – AccuWeather

Are you planning to visit the park this spring?

Here’s what you need to know if you’re planning to visit the park this spring. First, be patient! There will be many others visiting also, but it’s a huge park with space for everyone. Traffic might be slow, but you will eventually get to that picture-perfect site.

As of March 7, 2026, here are the best spots for wildflower viewing and what’s blooming, according to the National Park Service:

• North Badwater Rd (between CA190 and Badwater Basin): Desert Gold, Brown-eyed Primrose
• South Badwater Rd (near Ashford Mill): Desert Gold, Sand Verbena, Five Spot, Brown-eyed Primrose
• Highway 190 (between Stovepipe Wells and Furnace Creek): Gravel Ghost, Phacelia, Desert Gold, Mojave Desert Star
• Beatty Cutoff: Phacelia, Desert Gold, Gravel Ghost

To keep up-to-date on what’s blooming and where, visit the NPS website.

And, of course, don’t pick the wildflowers! Capture them only with your camera. And if you get a great photo, submit it to us!

Bottom line: A Death Valley superbloom is happening now! This rare event only happens about every decade. Read more about what flowers are blooming and where in Death Valley National Park.

The post Death Valley superbloom 2026: Best in a decade first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/lrsXaIU

What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars?

In May 2024, a hyperactive sunspot region blasted an X2.9 flare. When the solar superstorm hit Mars, it resulted in a large amount of material spewing outward (to the left in this image), then pummeling both Earth and Mars. New research shows spacecraft at the red planet glitched, and the Martian atmosphere become supercharged. P.S. The 2 bright white spots by the sun are Jupiter and Venus. Image via SOHO (ESA & NASA), NASA/SDO/AIA/ JHelioviewer/ D. Müller.

• In May 2024, a solar superstorm hit Mars. Two European Space Agency spacecraft at Mars observed the impacts, and now a new study has been released.
• The storm triggered the largest electron surge ever recorded in Mars’ upper atmosphere. It dramatically boosted charged particles.
• Both orbiters also recorded glitches in their computers. This is an expected result of solar storms that also affect satellites in Earth orbit.

Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

ESA published this original story on March 5, 2026. Edits by EarthSky.

What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars?

In May 2024, Earth was hit by the biggest solar storm recorded in over 20 years. It sent our planet’s atmosphere into overdrive, triggering shimmering auroras that were seen as far south as Mexico. This storm also hit Mars. And the European Space Agency’s two Mars orbiters – Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) – were in the right place at the right time. A radiation monitor aboard TGO picked up a dose equivalent to 200 ‘normal’ days in just 64 hours.

A new peer-reviewed study published on March 5, 2026, in the journal Nature Communications now reveals in greater depth how this intense, stormy activity affected the red planet.

ESA Research Fellow Jacob Parrott was the lead author of the study. Parrott said:

The impact was remarkable: Mars’ upper atmosphere was flooded by electrons. It was the biggest response to a solar storm we’ve ever seen at Mars.

The superstorm caused a dramatic increase in electrons in two distinct layers of Mars’ atmosphere. This occurred at altitudes of around 110 and 130 km (68 and 80 miles), with numbers rising by 45% and a whopping 278%, respectively. This is the most electrons we’ve ever seen in this layer of Martian atmosphere. Parrott added:

The storm also caused computer errors for both orbiters. It’s a typical peril of space weather, as the particles involved are so energetic and hard to predict. Luckily, the spacecraft were designed with this in mind, and built with radiation-resistant components and specific systems for detecting and fixing these errors. They recovered fast.

Pioneering a new technique

To investigate the superstorm’s impact on Mars, Parrott and colleagues used a technique ESA is currently pioneering. It’s known as radio occultation.

First, Mars Express beamed a radio signal to TGO at the very moment it was disappearing over the Martian horizon. As TGO vanished, the radio signal was bent (refracted) by the various layers of Mars’ atmosphere before being picked up by the orbiter. This allowed scientists to glean more about each layer. The researchers also used observations from NASA’s MAVEN mission to confirm the electron densities.

Colin Wilson is an ESA project scientist for Mars Express and TGO, and co-author of the study. Wilson said:

This technique has actually been used for decades to explore the solar system, but using signals beamed from a spacecraft to Earth. It’s only in the past five years or so that we’ve started using it at Mars between two spacecraft, such as Mars Express and TGO, which usually use those radios to beam data between orbiters and rovers. It’s great to see it in action.

ESA uses orbiter-to-orbiter radio occultation routinely at Earth. And it plans to use it more regularly in future planetary missions.

To study Mars’ atmosphere, ESA’s 2 Mars orbiters use the radio occultation technique. Mars Express beams a radio signal toward ExoMars TGO, as TGO is about to ‘set’ behind Mars. Thus, the radio signal travels through Mars’s upper atmosphere, causing it to bend. By measuring how much the signal bends, we discover what makes up the different layers of atmosphere. Image via ESA (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Different worlds, different weather

Earth and Mars experienced this superstorm differently, and it highlights the differences between the two worlds.

At Earth, the response of the upper atmosphere was more muted, thanks to the shielding effect of Earth’s magnetic field. As well as deflecting a lot of solar storm particles away from Earth, the magnetic field also diverted some toward Earth’s poles, where they caused the sky to light up with auroras.

While their differences can make it tricky to compare planets directly, understanding how solar activity impacts the residents of the solar system – in other words, space weather forecasting – is hugely important. At Earth, solar storms can be dangerous and damaging for astronauts and equipment up in space. Plus, they can disrupt our satellites and systems (power, radio, navigation) further down.

However, studying space weather is difficult, as the sun throws out radiation and material erratically, making targeted measurements largely opportunistic. Parrot said:

Fortunately, we were able to use this new technique with Mars Express and TGO just 10 minutes after a large solar flare hit Mars. Currently we’re only performing two observations per week at Mars, so the timing was extremely lucky.

Analyzing the aftermath

Parrott and colleagues captured the aftermath of three solar events. They were all part of the same storm, but different in terms of what they throw out into space and how they do it. One was a flare of radiation, one was a burst of high-energy particles, and one was an eruption of material known as a coronal mass ejection (CME).

Together, these events sent fast-moving, energetic, magnetized plasma and X-rays flooding towards Mars. When this barrage of material hit the planet’s upper atmosphere, it collided with neutral atoms and stripped away their electrons, causing the region to fill up with electrons and charged particles. Wilson said:

The results improve our understanding of Mars by revealing how solar storms deposit energy and particles into Mars’s atmosphere. It’s important as we know the planet has lost both huge amounts of water and most of its atmosphere to space, most likely driven by the continual wind of particles streaming out from the sun.

But there’s another side to it: the structure and contents of a planet’s atmosphere influence how radio signals travel through space. If Mars’s upper atmosphere is packed full of electrons, this could block the signals we use to explore the planet’s surface via radar, making it a key consideration in our mission planning … and impacting our ability to investigate other worlds.

Bottom line: What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars? In May 2024, the sun released a powerful X flare that caused spacecraft to glitch … and more. Read all about it here.

Source: Martian ionospheric response during the may 2024 solar superstorm

Via ESA

The post What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars? first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/Fgy4S1I

In May 2024, a hyperactive sunspot region blasted an X2.9 flare. When the solar superstorm hit Mars, it resulted in a large amount of material spewing outward (to the left in this image), then pummeling both Earth and Mars. New research shows spacecraft at the red planet glitched, and the Martian atmosphere become supercharged. P.S. The 2 bright white spots by the sun are Jupiter and Venus. Image via SOHO (ESA & NASA), NASA/SDO/AIA/ JHelioviewer/ D. Müller.

• In May 2024, a solar superstorm hit Mars. Two European Space Agency spacecraft at Mars observed the impacts, and now a new study has been released.
• The storm triggered the largest electron surge ever recorded in Mars’ upper atmosphere. It dramatically boosted charged particles.
• Both orbiters also recorded glitches in their computers. This is an expected result of solar storms that also affect satellites in Earth orbit.

Science news, night sky events and beautiful photos, all in one place. Click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

ESA published this original story on March 5, 2026. Edits by EarthSky.

What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars?

In May 2024, Earth was hit by the biggest solar storm recorded in over 20 years. It sent our planet’s atmosphere into overdrive, triggering shimmering auroras that were seen as far south as Mexico. This storm also hit Mars. And the European Space Agency’s two Mars orbiters – Mars Express and ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) – were in the right place at the right time. A radiation monitor aboard TGO picked up a dose equivalent to 200 ‘normal’ days in just 64 hours.

A new peer-reviewed study published on March 5, 2026, in the journal Nature Communications now reveals in greater depth how this intense, stormy activity affected the red planet.

ESA Research Fellow Jacob Parrott was the lead author of the study. Parrott said:

The impact was remarkable: Mars’ upper atmosphere was flooded by electrons. It was the biggest response to a solar storm we’ve ever seen at Mars.

The superstorm caused a dramatic increase in electrons in two distinct layers of Mars’ atmosphere. This occurred at altitudes of around 110 and 130 km (68 and 80 miles), with numbers rising by 45% and a whopping 278%, respectively. This is the most electrons we’ve ever seen in this layer of Martian atmosphere. Parrott added:

The storm also caused computer errors for both orbiters. It’s a typical peril of space weather, as the particles involved are so energetic and hard to predict. Luckily, the spacecraft were designed with this in mind, and built with radiation-resistant components and specific systems for detecting and fixing these errors. They recovered fast.

Pioneering a new technique

To investigate the superstorm’s impact on Mars, Parrott and colleagues used a technique ESA is currently pioneering. It’s known as radio occultation.

First, Mars Express beamed a radio signal to TGO at the very moment it was disappearing over the Martian horizon. As TGO vanished, the radio signal was bent (refracted) by the various layers of Mars’ atmosphere before being picked up by the orbiter. This allowed scientists to glean more about each layer. The researchers also used observations from NASA’s MAVEN mission to confirm the electron densities.

Colin Wilson is an ESA project scientist for Mars Express and TGO, and co-author of the study. Wilson said:

This technique has actually been used for decades to explore the solar system, but using signals beamed from a spacecraft to Earth. It’s only in the past five years or so that we’ve started using it at Mars between two spacecraft, such as Mars Express and TGO, which usually use those radios to beam data between orbiters and rovers. It’s great to see it in action.

ESA uses orbiter-to-orbiter radio occultation routinely at Earth. And it plans to use it more regularly in future planetary missions.

To study Mars’ atmosphere, ESA’s 2 Mars orbiters use the radio occultation technique. Mars Express beams a radio signal toward ExoMars TGO, as TGO is about to ‘set’ behind Mars. Thus, the radio signal travels through Mars’s upper atmosphere, causing it to bend. By measuring how much the signal bends, we discover what makes up the different layers of atmosphere. Image via ESA (CC BY-SA 3.0).

Different worlds, different weather

Earth and Mars experienced this superstorm differently, and it highlights the differences between the two worlds.

At Earth, the response of the upper atmosphere was more muted, thanks to the shielding effect of Earth’s magnetic field. As well as deflecting a lot of solar storm particles away from Earth, the magnetic field also diverted some toward Earth’s poles, where they caused the sky to light up with auroras.

While their differences can make it tricky to compare planets directly, understanding how solar activity impacts the residents of the solar system – in other words, space weather forecasting – is hugely important. At Earth, solar storms can be dangerous and damaging for astronauts and equipment up in space. Plus, they can disrupt our satellites and systems (power, radio, navigation) further down.

However, studying space weather is difficult, as the sun throws out radiation and material erratically, making targeted measurements largely opportunistic. Parrot said:

Fortunately, we were able to use this new technique with Mars Express and TGO just 10 minutes after a large solar flare hit Mars. Currently we’re only performing two observations per week at Mars, so the timing was extremely lucky.

Analyzing the aftermath

Parrott and colleagues captured the aftermath of three solar events. They were all part of the same storm, but different in terms of what they throw out into space and how they do it. One was a flare of radiation, one was a burst of high-energy particles, and one was an eruption of material known as a coronal mass ejection (CME).

Together, these events sent fast-moving, energetic, magnetized plasma and X-rays flooding towards Mars. When this barrage of material hit the planet’s upper atmosphere, it collided with neutral atoms and stripped away their electrons, causing the region to fill up with electrons and charged particles. Wilson said:

The results improve our understanding of Mars by revealing how solar storms deposit energy and particles into Mars’s atmosphere. It’s important as we know the planet has lost both huge amounts of water and most of its atmosphere to space, most likely driven by the continual wind of particles streaming out from the sun.

But there’s another side to it: the structure and contents of a planet’s atmosphere influence how radio signals travel through space. If Mars’s upper atmosphere is packed full of electrons, this could block the signals we use to explore the planet’s surface via radar, making it a key consideration in our mission planning … and impacting our ability to investigate other worlds.

Bottom line: What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars? In May 2024, the sun released a powerful X flare that caused spacecraft to glitch … and more. Read all about it here.

Source: Martian ionospheric response during the may 2024 solar superstorm

Via ESA

The post What happened when a solar superstorm hit Mars? first appeared on EarthSky.

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Daylight saving time starts: 9 tips for the coming week

Daylight saving time (DST) began at 2 a.m. on March 8, 2026. Image via Miriam Alonso/ Pexels.

Daylight saving time begins Sunday

At 2 a.m. today – Sunday, March 8, 2026 – clocks in most U.S. states and many Canadian provinces leapt forward one hour. Daylight saving time (DST) began. The memory tool for your clocks is spring forward. Easy to do with clocks. Less easy – for many – with our own bodies. We hear that the number of car crashes increases with the start of daylight saving time. More people have heart attacks. Many report feeling groggy or off-kilter in the week following. Here are some tips that might help.

1. Eat some good breakfasts this week!
2. Get some sunlight.
3. 3Keep up your exercise schedule.
4. Drink extra water and limit caffeine, alcohol, and sugar.
5. Manage your stress with whatever stress-busting techniques work for you.
6. Go to sleep a few minutes earlier.
7. Sleep in complete darkness, in a not-too-warm room.
8. Get up at your usual time, no matter what the sunrise is doing.
9. Don’t think in terms of what time it really is. As your alarm goes off at 6 a.m. Monday morning, try not to think it’s really only 5 a.m. Good luck!

Areas in green change to daylight saving time in 2026. Image via timeanddate.com. Used with permission.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

Permanent DST starts now for parts of Canada

The province of British Columbia – Canada’s westernmost province, with the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Rocky Mountains to its east – announced a week ago that March 8, 2026, will be its final clock change. After springing forward today, officials say the province will remain on permanent daylight saving time and will not “fall back” in November.

So British Columbia joins the Canadian Yukon, which has observed permanent DST since 2020.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Canada, clocks don’t change, and standard time is the norm throughout the year. That includes most of Saskatchewan (including Regina and Saskatoon). And it includes specific pockets such as eastern Quebec, Southampton Island in Nunavut, and certain communities in Ontario. Those areas do not change their clocks.

The U.S. has tried permanent DST, too

During World War II, the U.S. observed year-round daylight saving time from February 1942 to September 1945. It was known as “war time.”

The U.S. again tried year-round daylight saving time in 1974, during an “energy crisis” experiment. It was a response to the 1973 oil embargo. President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, which put the U.S. on year-round DST starting on January 6, 1974.

The initial reaction was excellent, with a 79% approval rating in December 1973. But, once winter set in, the reality of pitch-black mornings became a major issue. In some areas, the sun didn’t rise until after 9 a.m. Public outcry grew over the safety of children waiting for school buses in the dark. After several high-profile accidents involving students, approval plummeted to 42% by February. So the experiment, originally intended to last two years, was cut short. President Gerald Ford signed a repeal, and the U.S. returned to standard time on October 27, 1974.

Today, most of the U.S. does make the switch to daylight saving time, with a few notable exceptions that stay on Standard Time year-round. Most of Arizona does not observe DST (the Navajo Nation is the exception and does change clocks). Hawaii does not observe DST. And many U.S. territories do not observe DST, including American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The inventor of DST

Don’t like daylight saving time? Blame New Zealand entomologist G.V. Hudson. He 1st proposed a system resembling our modern one to the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1895. He valued those extra daylight hours after work as a time to gather insects. Be glad we didn’t use Hudson’s original proposal for a 2-hour leap! Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: Daylight saving time in the U.S. and Canada begins March 8, 2026. Here are some suggestions for coping with the time change.

The post Daylight saving time starts: 9 tips for the coming week first appeared on EarthSky.

from EarthSky https://ift.tt/AqYhTwg

Daylight saving time (DST) began at 2 a.m. on March 8, 2026. Image via Miriam Alonso/ Pexels.

Daylight saving time begins Sunday

At 2 a.m. today – Sunday, March 8, 2026 – clocks in most U.S. states and many Canadian provinces leapt forward one hour. Daylight saving time (DST) began. The memory tool for your clocks is spring forward. Easy to do with clocks. Less easy – for many – with our own bodies. We hear that the number of car crashes increases with the start of daylight saving time. More people have heart attacks. Many report feeling groggy or off-kilter in the week following. Here are some tips that might help.

1. Eat some good breakfasts this week!
2. Get some sunlight.
3. 3Keep up your exercise schedule.
4. Drink extra water and limit caffeine, alcohol, and sugar.
5. Manage your stress with whatever stress-busting techniques work for you.
6. Go to sleep a few minutes earlier.
7. Sleep in complete darkness, in a not-too-warm room.
8. Get up at your usual time, no matter what the sunrise is doing.
9. Don’t think in terms of what time it really is. As your alarm goes off at 6 a.m. Monday morning, try not to think it’s really only 5 a.m. Good luck!

Areas in green change to daylight saving time in 2026. Image via timeanddate.com. Used with permission.

You deserve a daily dose of good news. For the latest in science and the night sky, click here to subscribe to our free daily newsletter.

Permanent DST starts now for parts of Canada

The province of British Columbia – Canada’s westernmost province, with the Pacific Ocean to its west and the Rocky Mountains to its east – announced a week ago that March 8, 2026, will be its final clock change. After springing forward today, officials say the province will remain on permanent daylight saving time and will not “fall back” in November.

So British Columbia joins the Canadian Yukon, which has observed permanent DST since 2020.

Meanwhile, elsewhere in Canada, clocks don’t change, and standard time is the norm throughout the year. That includes most of Saskatchewan (including Regina and Saskatoon). And it includes specific pockets such as eastern Quebec, Southampton Island in Nunavut, and certain communities in Ontario. Those areas do not change their clocks.

The U.S. has tried permanent DST, too

During World War II, the U.S. observed year-round daylight saving time from February 1942 to September 1945. It was known as “war time.”

The U.S. again tried year-round daylight saving time in 1974, during an “energy crisis” experiment. It was a response to the 1973 oil embargo. President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Daylight Saving Time Energy Conservation Act, which put the U.S. on year-round DST starting on January 6, 1974.

The initial reaction was excellent, with a 79% approval rating in December 1973. But, once winter set in, the reality of pitch-black mornings became a major issue. In some areas, the sun didn’t rise until after 9 a.m. Public outcry grew over the safety of children waiting for school buses in the dark. After several high-profile accidents involving students, approval plummeted to 42% by February. So the experiment, originally intended to last two years, was cut short. President Gerald Ford signed a repeal, and the U.S. returned to standard time on October 27, 1974.

Today, most of the U.S. does make the switch to daylight saving time, with a few notable exceptions that stay on Standard Time year-round. Most of Arizona does not observe DST (the Navajo Nation is the exception and does change clocks). Hawaii does not observe DST. And many U.S. territories do not observe DST, including American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

The inventor of DST

Don’t like daylight saving time? Blame New Zealand entomologist G.V. Hudson. He 1st proposed a system resembling our modern one to the Wellington Philosophical Society in 1895. He valued those extra daylight hours after work as a time to gather insects. Be glad we didn’t use Hudson’s original proposal for a 2-hour leap! Image via Wikimedia Commons.

Bottom line: Daylight saving time in the U.S. and Canada begins March 8, 2026. Here are some suggestions for coping with the time change.

The post Daylight saving time starts: 9 tips for the coming week first appeared on EarthSky.

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