Defending Earth against Space Weather

Earth’s magnetic dipole creates the magnetosphere, but it’s not perfect. The radiation unleashed by the sun can occasionally sneak past Earth’s defenses in a process known as magnetic reconnection, creating the northern lights and wreaking havoc on electronics and our daily lives. Find out how Oak Ridge Leadership Computing Facility’s (OLCF) Cray XT5 “Jaguar” supercomputer is helping scientists better understand the processes giving rise to space weather.