NASA’s New Satellite Duo Begins Tracking Mysterious Auroral Electrojets
Data revealed from three small satellites make up NASA’s mission EZIE (Electrojet Zeeman Imaging Explorer) to unravel the mysteries in the surroundings of the auroral electrojet. Launched from California on March 14, 2025, the three satellites of NASA’s EZIE mission have officially begun their journey above the Earth’s atmosphere. The early observations coming in are already proving to be incredibly valuable in helping scientists better understand Earth’s auroral electrojets, they say. NASA says this is the first mission to study this electrical current in both northern and southern polar regions.
Study of EZIE Mission
After the launch of NASA’s EZIE Mission, these three CubeSats are now orbiting in a pearl-on-a-string form, 260 to 370 miles high from the Earth’s surface, to map the auroral electrojets. The EZIE team is excited to see the first light results, said the leader of the team, Sam Yee, of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory. Observations revealed it is clear that the spacecraft and the MEM instrument are both working as per the expectations.
What is MEM?
It is known as the Microwave Electroject Magnetogram, which measures the Zeeman splitting phenomenon. This will offer NASA the insight to study the evolution of electrojets with its structure, which has not been done previously.
Understanding the Auroral Electrojets
The Auroral electrojets are created by the massive energy shifted by the solar atmospheric pressure when it hits the atmosphere of the Earth. The electrojets emit an electrical charge of 1 million amps every second around the Earth’s magnetic poles. Magnetic disturbances of the Earth are created when these electrojets flow above the ground at around 65 miles. This could be a threat to the safety of astronauts and interfere with the satellites. This is the reason why knowing these electrojets is crucial for scientists.
Future of the Study
The mission has been funded by the Heliophysics Division at NASA. EZIE is managed by Goddard Space Flight Centre. A team of researchers will do the final analysis of the observations by EZIE, which will unveil the Earth and Space interlinking.
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Astronomers international team has employed various satellites and telescopes for performing multiwavelength observations of a supernova remnant known as SNR J0450.4-7050. The result that scientists got after an observational campaign, published on June 18, 2025, on the preprint server arXiv, gained new insights into the properties of this remnant, and observed that it is much larger than thought in the past. Supernova remnants (SNRs) are expanded structures resulting from the explosion of a supernova. It usually lasts for several hundred thousand years before the time it disperses into the interstellar medium.
Multiwavelength Observations Reveal New Details of SNR J0450.4-7050
As per the study by NASA, observations by the scientists indicate that SNRs contain the ejected expansion of material from the explosion and other interstellar material swept by the passage of the shockwave from the star that exploded. SNR studies beyond the Milky Way are important for comprehending the feedback in different evolutionary phases and gaining valuable insights into the local ISM. The Large Magellanic Cloud is the galaxy that has its SNR population explored in depth.
Importance of Studying Supernova Remnants Beyond the Milky Way
The recent observations reveal that SNR J0450.4-7050, a large supernova remnant in the LMC having physical dimensions of 332 by 244 light years, is estimated to have the remnants of around 45,000 years old. Scientists named it Veliki, which means large in Serbian. It also showcases the complex filamentary morphology with different inner and outer shell structures.
Discovery of Veliki: A Large, Aged Remnant in the Large Magellanic Cloud
An astronomer’s group led by Zachary J. Smeaton decided to take a closer observation of SNR J0450.4−7050 by the Australian Square Kilometre Array Pathfinder and MeerKAT radio telescope. The SNR showed a high radial surface brightness with one of the lowest average radio spectral indices, with similar remnants.
Unusual Radio Properties Suggest Veliki is a Fully Radiative SNR
These unusual features, according to the scientists, give the prediction that Veliki is mainly a radiative SNR with a high shock compression ratio. This states about the non-thermal spectrum and higher surface brightness and emissions. Further observations of the surrounding environment are needed to confirm the hypothesis with an understanding of the remnants’ nature in a better way.
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