Search

This paper describes the results of a survey administered to members of the American Association of Physics Teachers and the National Earth Science Teachers Association to measure the nature and frequency of the integration of Earth and space science (E&SS) concepts into physics courses, as well as the need and interest of physics teachers to do so. Data included 92 responses from secondary physics and physical science teachers around the US. Results showed that physics teachers typically include E&SS content during the teaching of universal gravitation, circular motion, and Doppler effect, but that integration is usually limited to contextualized word problems. While the teachers surveyed are highly interested in learning more about E&SS integration, they are limited by time and a scarcity of quality resources.

Earth's magnetosheath is the region of shocked plasma that mediates coupling between the solar wind and magnetosphere. Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations predict electric current closure across the magnetosheath from the bow shock to the magnetopause. These currents provide a J × B force that diverts plasma flow along the flanks of the magnetosphere. Observations by the NASA Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) mission show that within the magnetosheath there are large amplitude, localized currents during periods of intense turbulence. We perform a statistical analysis of magnetic field data from the first 6 years (2015–2021) of the MMS mission during intervals when the satellites are on the dayside and generate statistical maps of electric current derived using the curlometer technique. We find that during the low magnetosonic Mach number regime (MMS < 5), the predicted current closure pattern becomes apparent for northward and southward IMF orientations, but not dawnward or duskward. For MMS > 5, results suggest that for all IMF orientations this large‐scale current closure pattern is not apparent, even after separating out quasi‐perpendicular (θbn ≥ 45°) and quasi‐parallel (θbn < 45°) bow shock conditions. Instead, the magnetosheath is dominated by small‐scale filamented current sheets that may be attributed to magnetosheath turbulence. Key Points: Evidence of large‐scale electric current closure across the magnetosheath, from the bow shock to the magnetopauseLarge‐scale electric current closure is most evident under low magnetosonic Mach number conditionsEven during calm and stable intervals, the magnetosheath exhibits turbulent current structures [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During intense geomagnetic storms, the magnetopause can move in as far as geosynchronous orbit, leaving the satellites in that orbit out in the magnetosheath. Spacecraft operators turn to numerical models to predict the response of the magnetopause to solar wind conditions, but the predictions of the models are not always accurate. This study investigates four storms with a magnetopause crossing by at least one GOES satellite, using four magnetohydrodynamic models at NASA's Community Coordinated Modeling Center to simulate the events, and analyzes the results to investigate the reasons for errors in the predictions. Two main reasons can explain most of the erroneous predictions. First, the solar wind input to the simulations often contains features measured near the L1 point that did not eventually arrive at Earth; incorrect predictions during such periods are due to the solar wind input rather than to the models themselves. Second, while the models do well when the primary driver of magnetopause motion is a variation in the solar wind density, they tend to overpredict or underpredict the integrated Birkeland currents and their effects during times of strong negative interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz, leading to poorer prediction capability. Coupling the MHD codes to a ring current model, when such a coupling is available, generally will improve the predictions but will not always entirely correct them. More work is needed to fully characterize the response of each code under strong southward IMF conditions as it relates to prediction of magnetopause location. Plain Language Summary: The magnetopause is the boundary that separates the region dominated by Earth's magnetic field from the solar wind. Plasma and magnetic field conditions are very different on either side of the magnetopause, which can cause problems for satellites when the boundary moves and they find themselves in a different region of space than expected. Numerical models of the magnetosphere are used to predict the motion of the magnetopause, which moves based on the driving of the solar wind, but such predictions do not always correspond to real‐life observations. This study compares predictions from four different models to observations from spacecraft that crossed the magnetopause during a handful of events with intense solar wind conditions, to determine the reasons that simulation results could be incorrect. The first source of error is the uncertainty in solar wind input to the models. The second source of error is a difference in the response of the codes to different solar wind parameters. Coupling the magnetosphere models to models that add the physics of specific magnetosphere regions can help to improve the accuracy of the overall predictions of magnetopause motion. Key Points: MHD models driven by OMNI solar wind can wrongly predict magnetopause motion if solar wind observed at L1 does not reach the magnetosphereThe models predict magnetopause motion better if the driver of the motion is solar wind density than when the driver is a negative interplanetary magnetic field BzCoupling the MHD codes to a ring current model for storm‐time events results in significantly better predictions of magnetopause location [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Space science is perhaps the science topic that elicits the greatest interest in students in the United States and also worldwide. NASA has always endeavored to leverage that widespread interest to advance STEM education, not least because NASA requires a thriving STEM workforce for the future.