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Zodiacal light is a faint glow of diffuse light in the sky scattered by interplanetary dust, particularly a zodiacal cloud, along the ecliptic, and therefore the zodiac. It is mostly only visible in very dark conditions across the night sky along the whole ecliptic as the zodiacal band, backscattered slightly brighter from an oval area of the band directly opposite to the light source as the gegenschein and brightest as a triangle-shaped area at the horizon around the light source as false dawn, mostly just before or after the Sun rises or sets.
Van Allen radiation belt is a zone of energetic charged particles, most of which originate from the solar wind, that are captured by and held around a planet by that planet's magnetosphere. Earth has two such belts, and sometimes others may be temporarily created. The belts are named after James Van Allen, who is often credited with their discovery.
A meteoroid is a small rocky or metallic body in outer space. Meteoroids are distinguished as objects significantly smaller than asteroids, ranging in size from grains to objects up to a meter wide. Objects smaller than meteoroids are classified as micrometeoroids or space dust. Many are fragments from comets or asteroids, whereas others are collision impact debris ejected from bodies such as the Moon or Mars.
Space weather is a branch of space physics and aeronomy, or heliophysics, concerned with the varying conditions within the Solar System and its heliosphere. This includes the effects of the solar wind, especially on the Earth's magnetosphere, ionosphere, thermosphere, and exosphere. Though physically distinct, space weather is analogous to the terrestrial weather of Earth's atmosphere. The term "space weather" was first used in the 1950s and popularized in the 1990s. Later, it prompted research into "space climate", the large-scale and long-term patterns of space weather.
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A micrometeoroid is a tiny meteoroid: a small particle of rock in space, usually weighing less than a gram. A micrometeorite is such a particle that survives passage through Earth's atmosphere and reaches Earth's surface.
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The interplanetary dust cloud, or zodiacal cloud, consists of cosmic dust that pervades the space between planets within planetary systems, such as the Solar System. This system of particles has been studied for many years in order to understand its nature, origin, and relationship to larger bodies. There are several methods to obtain space dust measurement.
The NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC) is a NASA program for development of far reaching, long term advanced concepts by "creating breakthroughs, radically better or entirely new aerospace concepts". The program operated under the name NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts from 1998 until 2007, and was reestablished in 2011 under the name NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts and continues to the present. The NIAC program funds work on revolutionary aeronautics and space concepts that can dramatically impact how NASA develops and conducts its missions.
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Heliophysics is the physics of the Sun and its connection with the Solar System. NASA defines heliophysics as "(1) the comprehensive new term for the science of the Sun - Solar System Connection, (2) the exploration, discovery, and understanding of Earth's space environment, and (3) the system science that unites all of the linked phenomena in the region of the cosmos influenced by a star like our Sun."
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An Earth-grazing fireball is a fireball, a very bright meteor that enters Earth’s atmosphere and leaves again. Some fragments may impact Earth as meteorites, if the meteor starts to break up or explodes in mid-air. These phenomena are then called Earth-grazing meteor processions and bolides. Famous examples of Earth-grazers are the 1972 Great Daylight Fireball and the Meteor Procession of July 20, 1860.
In solar physics, a solar particle event (SPE), also known as a solar energetic particle event or solar radiation storm, is a solar phenomenon which occurs when particles emitted by the Sun, mostly protons, become accelerated either in the Sun's atmosphere during a solar flare or in interplanetary space by a coronal mass ejection shock. Other nuclei such as helium and HZE ions may also be accelerated during the event. These particles can penetrate the Earth's magnetic field and cause partial ionization of the ionosphere. Energetic protons are a significant radiation hazard to spacecraft and astronauts.
The Heliophysics Science Division of the Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA) conducts research on the Sun, its extended Solar System environment, and interactions of Earth, other planets, small bodies, and interstellar gas with the heliosphere. Division research also encompasses geospace—Earth's uppermost atmosphere, the ionosphere, and the magnetosphere—and the changing environmental conditions throughout the coupled heliosphere.
Solar phenomena are natural phenomena which occur within the atmosphere of the Sun. They take many forms, including solar wind, radio wave flux, solar flares, coronal mass ejections, coronal heating and sunspots.
References
- ↑ "Meteoroids and Orbital Debris: Effects on Spacecraft (NASA Reference Publication 1408)" (PDF).
- ↑ "Here Come the Perseids!".
- ↑ Orbital Debris Impacts on Spacecraft
- ↑ The sad story of Olympus 1 Archived 2011-09-28 at the Wayback Machine
- ↑ "Landsat 5 Experiences Malfunction".
- ↑ "The 2009 Perseid Meteor Shower".
- ↑ Lawrence, Andy; Rawls, Meredith L.; Jah, Moriba; Boley, Aaron; Vruno, Di; Garrington, Simon; Kramer, Michael; Lawler, Samantha; Lowenthal, James; McDowell, Jonathan; McCaughrean, Mark (2022-04-22). "The case for space environmentalism". Nature Astronomy. 6 (4): 428–435. arXiv: 2204.10025 . doi:10.1038/s41550-022-01655-6. ISSN 2397-3366. S2CID 248300127 . Retrieved 2022-05-25.
- ↑ Wood, Danielle (7 April 2021). "Media Lab Perspectives: Space Environmentalism with Moriba Jah – MIT Media Lab". MIT Media Lab. Retrieved 3 February 2022.
