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For the first time, astronomers have detected a powerful, 600-mile-wide (1,000 kilometers) hurricane plasma in landupper atmosphere, a phenomenon they call a “space hurricane.”
The space hurricane lasted nearly 8 hours on Aug.20, 2014, swirling hundreds of miles above Earth’s magnetic north pole, according to a study published Feb.22 in the journal. Communications from nature.
Made from a tangled mess of magnetic field lines and the fast-flying solar wind, the hurricane was invisible to the naked eye; however, four meteorological satellites that passed over the North Pole detected a formation similar to a typical terrestrial hurricane, the study authors wrote. The space hurricane was shaped like a funnel with a silent “eye” in the center, surrounded by several spiral arms rotating in a counterclockwise direction. plasma (ionized gas found throughout the solar system, including Earth’s atmosphere).
Instead of raining water, the space hurricane rained electrons directly into Earth’s upper atmosphere.
“Until now, it was uncertain that space plasma hurricanes existed, so proving this with such an amazing observation is incredible,” said study co-author Mike Lockwood, a space scientist at the University of Reading in the UK, said in a statement. “Tropical storms are associated with enormous amounts of energy, and these space hurricanes must be created by an unusually large and rapid transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles to Earth’s upper atmosphere.”
Using a 3D model of the hurricane, the researchers hypothesized that the formation resulted from a complex interaction between the incoming solar wind (high-speed gales of plasma periodically released by the sun) and the magnetic field over the North Pole.
While this is the first observed space hurricane, the researchers hypothesize that these “weather” systems could be common events on any planet with a magnetic shield and plasma in its atmosphere.
“Magnetic and plasma fields in the atmosphere of planets exist throughout the universe, so the findings suggest that space hurricanes should be a widespread phenomenon,” Lockwood said.
Should you fear the space hurricane? Probably not. The upper atmosphere phenomenon poses a small threat to our planet, the researchers noted, but it could affect the effects of existing space weather, for example by increasing the resistance of satellites or disrupting radio and GPS communications systems.
Originally posted on Live Science.
