Recent  

Collisional fragmentation of asteroids, comets and meteoroids result in the formation of dust in the solar system. The dust distribution is however uncharted and the role of dust in the solar system is largely unknown. At present, the solar system is explored by the Solar Orbiter spacecraft. We present a novel method, based on artificial intelligence, that can be used for detecting when dust particles impact the Solar Orbiter with high accuracy, making it possible to study the dust distribution.

Mirror modes are magnetic bottles found in the space plasma environment of planets contributing to the energy exchange with the solar wind. We use magnetic field measurements from the NASA Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission to detect them around Mars and show how they evolve in time and space. The structures concentrate in two regions, one behind the bow shock, the other closer to the planet. They compete with other wave modes depending on the solar flux and heliocentric distance.

Freshly created ions in the solar wind start gyrating around the interplanetary magnetic field. When they cross the bow shock they get an extra kick and this increases the plasma pressure against the magnetic pressure. This leads to the creation of so-called mirror modes, regions where the magnetic field decreases in strength and the plasma density increases. These structures help in exploring how energy is transferred from the ions to the magnetic field and where around Venus this is happening.

Sub-Auroral Polarisation Stream (SAPS) are very fast plasma flows that occur at middle-latitudes, which can affect the atmosphere. In this paper, we use four ground-based radars to get a wide-coverage of SAPS that occurred over the US, along with interferometer cameras in VA and MA to measure winds. The winds are strongly affected, but in different ways, implying that the balance forces on the atmosphere is strongly dependent on proximity to the disturbance.

In the terrestrial ionosphere sporadic (metallic) layers are formed. The formation of these layers are related to the action of atmospheric waves. These waves, also named tides, are due to the absorption of solar radiation in the atmosphere. We investigated the role of the tides with 8-hour period in the formation of the sporadic layers. The study was conducted using ionosonde and meteor radar data, and computing simulations. The 8-h tides intensified the density of the sporadic layers.