1 00:00:00,600 --> 00:00:01,835 Out in space, 2 00:00:01,835 --> 00:00:05,905 particles play by a different set of rules than we are familiar with at home. 3 00:00:06,606 --> 00:00:09,476 The expanse beyond Earth is almost entirely 4 00:00:09,476 --> 00:00:11,811 filled with a mysterious state of matter. 5 00:00:12,512 --> 00:00:14,581 This matter is the least understood. 6 00:00:14,981 --> 00:00:17,017 It's rarely encountered on Earth. 7 00:00:17,017 --> 00:00:21,221 Yet it triggers auroras and even impacts our exploration of space. 8 00:00:21,755 --> 00:00:23,890 This is plasma. 9 00:00:23,890 --> 00:00:28,228 After solid, liquid and gas Plasma is the fourth state of matter. 10 00:00:28,561 --> 00:00:30,964 It is made of particles that have been ionized. 11 00:00:31,297 --> 00:00:34,534 This means the particles have been given so much energy 12 00:00:34,534 --> 00:00:39,339 that electrons separate from their atoms, making a subatomic soup. 13 00:00:39,406 --> 00:00:42,642 Unlike gas, plasma easily conducts electricity. 14 00:00:42,876 --> 00:00:45,945 This allows it to move along invisible pathways 15 00:00:45,945 --> 00:00:49,082 charted by the electromagnetic fields that fill space. 16 00:00:50,183 --> 00:00:52,052 While plasma is rare on earth, 17 00:00:52,052 --> 00:00:55,822 it makes up 99.9% of the visible universe, 18 00:00:55,922 --> 00:00:58,024 including the sun and other stars. 19 00:00:58,892 --> 00:01:01,394 It's also spread out across the universe 20 00:01:01,394 --> 00:01:03,830 in the space separating planets and stars. 21 00:01:04,464 --> 00:01:06,199 This space is not empty. 22 00:01:06,199 --> 00:01:09,436 It's filled with a weak soup of plasma. 23 00:01:09,436 --> 00:01:14,307 Those vast expanses of space are also filled with electromagnetic fields, 24 00:01:14,340 --> 00:01:16,943 such as those created by the sun and earth. 25 00:01:17,610 --> 00:01:21,381 In these places where plasma and electromagnetic fields play. 26 00:01:21,481 --> 00:01:26,586 Plasma can undergo a unique, explosive phenomenon called magnetic reconnection. 27 00:01:27,921 --> 00:01:28,488 Magnetic 28 00:01:28,488 --> 00:01:32,292 reconnection occurs where magnetic field lines are constantly shifting. 29 00:01:32,559 --> 00:01:36,729 When the lines become tangled, they explosively snap and realign. 30 00:01:36,963 --> 00:01:41,401 This transfers energy and sends nearby plasma particles flying through space. 31 00:01:42,635 --> 00:01:44,437 Magnetic reconnection triggers 32 00:01:44,437 --> 00:01:49,209 solar flares on the surface of the sun, creates shockwaves near supernovae, 33 00:01:49,442 --> 00:01:52,212 and violently twists plasma around black holes. 34 00:01:53,012 --> 00:01:56,683 Closer to home, magnetic reconnection between the sun and Earth's 35 00:01:56,683 --> 00:02:01,454 magnetic fields is a critical way energy is transferred around our planet. 36 00:02:01,988 --> 00:02:06,025 For example, when magnetic reconnection occurs on the nightside of Earth, 37 00:02:06,226 --> 00:02:09,896 it can push particles down toward the poles, triggering auroras. 38 00:02:10,964 --> 00:02:15,034 Near Earth space is the easiest place to study magnetic reconnection. 39 00:02:15,268 --> 00:02:20,073 NASA does this with its Magnetospheric Multiscale mission or MMS. 40 00:02:20,874 --> 00:02:24,878 MMS uses four identical spacecraft to measure magnetic fields 41 00:02:24,878 --> 00:02:28,982 and particles in 3D 100 times faster than previous missions. 42 00:02:29,282 --> 00:02:32,385 This has revealed new insights on the small scale details 43 00:02:32,385 --> 00:02:35,622 of magnetic reconnection and the nature of plasma itself. 44 00:02:36,956 --> 00:02:38,391 Other NASA missions like 45 00:02:38,391 --> 00:02:42,128 Parker Solar Probe, ARTEMIS, and Voyager 46 00:02:42,195 --> 00:02:45,098 also study plasma across our solar system. 47 00:02:46,132 --> 00:02:50,670 From the surface of the sun to the space between the planets, NASA continues 48 00:02:50,670 --> 00:02:56,442 to unravel the mysteries of plasma that help us as we venture beyond Earth.