WEBVTT FILE 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.