Space Science Snapshots
Have a seat and take a quick trip into space! At APL, our space scientists and engineers strive every day to break new ground—through research, spacecraft and instrument designs, and much more. Check out these snapshots of their innovative work, which is helping to inform policymakers, cut the costs of exploration, and push the boundaries of space and planetary science.
Earth’s Magnetospheric Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves Respond to Solar Wind in Two Stages
A new APL-led study reveals that key plasma waves that influence the radiation belts and space weather in geospace respond to solar wind pressure in two distinct time-delayed phases.
Upstream Solar Wind Turbulence Confirmed to Influence Geospace
An APL-led study shows that solar wind turbulence is a real, but weak, causal driver of geomagnetic activity, acting through slow, viscous-like coupling rather than magnetic reconnection.
James Webb Space Telescope Separates an Exoplanet’s Clear Dusk from Cloudy Dawn
The James Webb Space Telescope split a hot Jupiter’s atmosphere in two, revealing morning clouds, clear evening skies, and a hidden asymmetry that skews our view of planet chemistry.
James Webb Space Telescope Catches Hot Jupiter Winds Rewriting Nightside Chemistry
APL-led data analysis reveals that winds erase nightside methane on a hot Jupiter, showing how fast circulation can drive atmospheric chemistry.
Reframing Radar for Lunar Hazards
APL-led Mini-RF analysis shows that a rockier Moon doesn’t always look rocky to radar, redefining how we use radar for landing-site assessment.
Relativistic Electron Acceleration at the Bow Shock of Jupiter and Beyond
A new study of measurements from the APL-built Juno/JEDI instrument reveals relativistic electron acceleration upstream of Jupiter’s bow shock, advancing our universal understanding of particle acceleration.
James Webb Space Telescope Measures the Metal-Poor Atmosphere of a Giant Exoplanet
APL analysis of three James Webb Space Telescope transits shows spots and faculae (aka transit light source [TLS]) on HATS-75 can mask water, yet reveal CH4, CO, and CO2 in HATS-75 b’s metal-poor atmosphere.
Quantifying Solar Ejecta at a New Level of Detail
An APL study applies a novel method to Parker Solar Probe WISPR images to quantitatively describe and better understand the evolution of substructures within coronal mass ejections.
Microcraters Discovered on Asteroid Bennu Samples
Centimeter-sized stones returned from the small near-Earth asteroid Bennu by NASA’s OSIRIS-REx mission exhibit impact craters up to a few millimeters wide, implying that impact fragments and impact-processed rocks are retained despite the microgravity environment. To understand how, APL scientists combined physical analysis of Bennu samples, laboratory experiments of impacts into simulant rocks, and 3D numerical simulations of disruptive impacts into boulders. They found that the majority of impact fragments eject toward and penetrate the asteroid’s weak, porous surface, leading to their retention. This impact-driven mechanism of regolith production likely occurs on other small asteroids with highly porous surfaces.
James Webb Space Telescope Detects a Hot Jupiter’s Hidden Nightside
A new APL-led James Webb Space Telescope analysis method extracts the first nightside spectrum of WASP-17b, revealing a ~1000 K nightside atmosphere and evidence of transport-driven chemistry.
Study Challenges Life Claims on K2-18b
This APL-led study reanalyzes James Webb Space Telescope data and finds no statistically significant biosignatures on K2-18b, sharpening standards for life detection beyond Earth.
Foreshock Compressive Structures Forming at IP Shocks and Planetary Bow Shocks
An APL-led study using multi-mission observations from the Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission and Solar Orbiter sheds light on the formation of foreshock compressive structures, advancing our understanding of collisionless shocks and transient phenomena in space.