University of Iowa physicists have detailed interactions between magnetic field lines of the sun and Mars that may help explain how Mars turned from a warm, hospitable planet into a dry, cold, and hostile environment. Using orbital observations and evidence obtained from NASA rovers on the red planet’s surface, scientists know that billions of years ago Mars was much wetter and warmer, with a thicker atmosphere.

Join us April 23 at 5 pm CDT for this virtual webinar about TRACERS, a cutting-edge NASA satellite mission led by the University of Iowa. TRACERS will study the magnetic interactions between the sun and Earth, helping to unlock the mysteries of space weather.

Graduate student Brady Martin was named a recipient of the 2024-25 Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award. The Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award recognizes teaching assistants who have demonstrated outstanding abilities at the University of Iowa.

The recently formed University of Iowa Ethics Bowl team, led by second-year physics and chemistry student Arissa Khan, bested 20 competing teams in the Midwest.

Yuanzheng Wen, a graduate research assistant in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, received an Outstanding Student Presentation Award for his talk at the American Geophysical Union Annual Meeting Dec. 9-13, 2024 in Washington, DC.

In this Radio Iowa interview, Prof. Allison Jaynes discusses the discovery of 128 more moons orbiting Saturn, for a total of 274, far more than its larger neighbor Jupiter, with just 95 moons. Jaynes says she’s betting Saturn has still more moons that we haven’t spotted yet.

In this story from Iowa's News Now, Prof. Allison Jaynes comments on the discovery of 128 new moons around Saturn, making it the planet with the most moons with 274. She said these findings are a good stepping stone to learn more about the Earth's moon and solar system.

The Department of Physics and Astronomy presented Demos Unleashed 2025 on March 14 at Van Allen Hall. The show featured the science of the TRACERS Mission including making plasmas, aurora, magnetic detection, particle detection, and the science of rockets.

University of Iowa space physicist Craig Kletzing’s life was cut short before he could complete his most ambitious NASA mission. The professor’s colleagues stepped in to bring TRACERS to the launch pad.

Ava Reed, a student in the College of Engineering, spent her summer designing and constructing the mini replica of the NASA funded satellite mission.