NASA's BioSentinel studies solar radiation as Earth watches aurora

In May 2024, a geomagnetic storm hit Earth, sending auroras across the planet's skies in a once-in-a-generation light display. These dazzling sights are possible because of the interaction of coronal mass ejections--explosions of plasma and magnetic field from the sun--with Earth's magnetic field, which protects us from the radiation the sun spits out during turbulent storms.