- Scientists detected a strange wave through Earth’s magnetic field without any obvious source.
- The wave was detected by scientists around the world, and was not linked to solar activity or anything the Sun has sent.
- The particularly calm nature of the Sun right now, as it plunges deep into a period of solar minimum with very little activity, allows subtle changes in the Sun’s magnetic field to be seen and studied.
We never see it, but Earth’s magnetic field is one of the things that allow life to thrive on our planet. It protects us from some of the harshest aspects of orbiting a star like our Sun, and researchers constantly monitor its state and do their best to understand what affects it.
So when a wave spread through Earth’s magnetic field, researchers initially suspected that the Sun had shot something in our direction. They verified the solar wind, the name given to the constant flow of particles from the Sun, since variations can cause similar waves, but nothing was out of the ordinary. In this case, it appears that the Sun is so quiet that scientists can “hear” things that they would not normally hear.
The sun goes through different cycles. During periods of high activity, our star spits out charged particles in large quantities. Solar storms, which are particularly large explosions of such particles, can affect communication networks here on Earth and affect satellites and other spacecraft. Right now, however, the Sun is in a period of extremely low activity, and that may be why the researchers were able to detect this new wave.
The type of ripple that was detected is known as continuous pulsation (PC for short). These types of waves have been observed in the past, but are generally very difficult to detect due to the Sun’s activity that interacts with Earth’s magnetic field and creates a lot of noise. The waves are simply lost in all that activity.
When external forces are so low, naturally occurring waves are more easily visible. This particular wave is believed to be related to particles that detach from Earth’s own halo of charged particles that are formed by the magnetic field. When the particles come off, they can create small disturbances in the magnetic field that would never be detected during a period of high solar activity.
Scientists already know that this time the Sun’s solar minimum will be particularly quiet, which means detecting subtle changes in Earth’s magnetic field may be easier than ever. It’s incredibly fortuitous for researchers who focus on the inner workings of our planet, and could lead to a new understanding of how Earth’s magnetic field works and what kinds of things scientists lose during periods of high solar activity.
Mike Wehner has reported on technology and video games for the past decade, covering the latest news and trends in virtual reality, handheld devices, smartphones, and future technology. Most recently, Mike served as technical editor at The Daily Dot, and has appeared on USA Today, Time.com, and countless other websites and in print. His love of reporting is second only to his addiction to games.
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