Magnetospheric physics articles from across Nature Portfolio

Venus lacks a magnetic field, leading to interactions between the solar wind and its atmosphere. During its Venus fly-by, BepiColombo observed planetary C⁺ and O⁺ escape into space due to this interaction, which is important for understanding atmospheric evolution.

Turbulence plays a key role in space and astrophysical plasmas. The study reports evidence of the weak-to-strong transition when Alfvénic turbulence cascades from large to small scales revealed from the Cluster observation of space plasma.

Water molecules in Europa’s icy surface are split into hydrogen and oxygen by charged particle bombardment. NASA’s Juno spacecraft flew near Europa and constrained the production of oxygen in Europa’s surface ice, thus providing only a narrow range to support habitability in its subsurface ocean.

Strong diffusion limit is the maximum rate of electron loss into the atmosphere from Earth’s radiation belts. Here, the authors show scaling up chorus wave power to the strong diffusion limit causes rapid acceleration of electrons, sufficient to outweigh the losses due to strong diffusion.

Physics-informed neural networks allow the construction of state-of-the-art models of magnetic fields in active regions on the Sun in real time, enabling rapid investigation of the source regions for space weather.

Numerical simulations and spacecraft observations elucidate how ultralow-frequency waves transmit through collisionless shocks, which could not only advance our understanding of shocks but also have implications for space weather modelling.

An incoherent scatter radar in southern China will probe low-latitude ionospheric properties while also sensing meteors and space debris, explain the SYISR leadership team.

The recent suite of ground and space observatories bring solar physics into the twenty-first century. Solar Orbiter, due to launch this month, will observe the polar regions from up close, which is essential for understanding the magnetic field of the Sun.