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Map the Earth’s Magnetic Shield with the Space Umbrella Project

A stream of charged particles known as the solar wind flows from the Sun toward Earth. Here, it meets the Earth’s magnetic fields, which shield our planet like a giant umbrella. The Space Umbrella project needs your help investigating this dynamic region, where NASA’s Magnetosphere Multiscale (MMS) mission has been collecting data since 2015. The MMS mission investigates how the Sun and Earth’s magnetic fields connect and disconnect, explosively transferring energy from one to the other in a process that is important to the Sun, other planets, and everywhere in the universe.

With the Space Umbrella project, you will help identify when the MMS spacecraft has observed the strongest interactions between the Earth’s magnetosphere and the solar wind. While these interactions can result in beautiful auroras, they also release energy that could disrupt GPS and communications systems and endanger astronauts. Your work will also help scientists better understand solar storms. Understanding these solar storms can contribute to keeping our astronauts and technology safe.

To get started, visit the Space Umbrella project website and complete the tutorial. The tutorial will teach you everything you need to know, including how to tell when the satellite is inside Earth’s magnetic field and when the magnetosphere is interacting with the Sun’s particles. Everyone is welcome to participate — no prior experience needed!

A combined image of Earth’s magnetic field and spacecraft data. On the left, a cartoon shows Earth’s magnetic field as blue lines arcing away from and then returning to the planet. The Sun’s charged particles are depicted as yellow lines running from the Sun towards Earth, then deflecting around the Earth’s magnetosphere, which is shown as an orange arc positioned between the Earth and the Sun. On the right are three example MMS data images such as those volunteers are asked to classify.

Left: An artist’s drawing of Earth’s magnetic field (blue lines) interacting with the Sun’s charged particles (yellow lines). The Earth’s magnetosphere (orange crescent) is created by Earth’s magnetic field. It deflects those particles like an umbrella. Right: NASA MMS mission observations like those volunteers would see while participating in the Space Umbrella project.

NASA/Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory