This animation shows how the ambipolar electric field works. The most abundant gas in the lower atmosphere, the part we live in, is nitrogen (N2, shown around seven seconds). Pan up to the ...

Readers discuss Earth’s hidden electric field, black hole measurements, more By Science News Staff March 1, 2025 at 7:00 am ...

The Earth's ambipolar electric field is a phenomenon that occurs in the ionosphere, the upper part of the Earth's atmosphere, where ions and electrons are present in significant quantities. In the ...

"Observation of new electric field signals strong potential for assorted devices." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 10 December 2024. <www.sciencedaily.com / releases / 2024 / 12 / 241208200143.htm>.

The onboard instruments measured changes in electric potential from the altitude where the field should begin – 250 km (150 miles) – up to the maximum height it reached, 768 km (477 miles).

The field equations then give the correct dynamics for the electromagnetic field. Discover the latest in science, tech, and space with over 100,000 subscribers who rely on Phys.org for daily insights.

Then a principle called the Hall effect generates an electric field that accelerates the ions and electrons and channels them into a characteristically blue plume that emerges from the spacecraft ...