NASA investigates a "dent" in the magnetic field 0:39
(CNN) - A growing dent in Earth's magnetic field over South America and the southern Atlantic Ocean could pose a risk to spacecraft and satellites.
This evolving weak spot in the magnetic field, called the South Atlantic Anomaly, is being monitored by NASA, but the space agency said it won't affect us here on Earth.
The magnetic field protects us, acting as a shield against the solar wind - a stream of charged particles and radiation - that flows from the Sun. The protection of this field also extends to include satellites that orbit close to Earth.
But the South Atlantic Anomaly is allowing solar particles to get closer than before. Solar radiation could have a negative effect as satellites pass through this area, destroying their computers and interfering with data collection, according to NASA.
The magnetic field protects us, acting as a shield against the solar wind.
The South Atlantic Anomaly, new data has also shown, is weakening and expanding westward. Also, it is splitting into two lobes instead of one large, which will cause more headaches when managing satellite missions.
In a number of research areas, NASA scientists are monitoring the anomaly to prepare for those challenges, as well as how it could affect humans in space.
NASA scientists are also monitoring the anomaly to see how these localized changes in the strength of the magnetic field could affect our atmosphere.
LOOK : NASA receives a signal from the Moon after more than a decade of attempts
What damage can the anomaly cause?
If satellites traveling through this weak area in the magnetic field are hit by energized particles, they can short-circuit, fail, or even suffer permanent damage. Therefore, satellite operators regularly turn off satellite components when traveling through the anomaly so as not to risk losing key instruments or the entire satellite.
The International Space Station is also going through the anomaly. While astronauts are safe inside the station, instruments outside that collect data can experience problems.
In fact, the anomaly is known to reset power boards in the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission, installed outside the station, with a frequency of up to once a month. .
NASA's stereoscopic visualization shows a model of Earth's magnetic field.
While this doesn't cause any material damage, it does result in a couple of hours of data loss each month, according to Bryan Blair, mission associate principal investigator and instrument scientist, and lidar instrument scientist at Goddard.
What causes it?
The Earth's magnetic field is produced by its molten iron-rich core, which is in a state of constant motion 3,000 km below the surface. These movements act as a generator, known as a geodynamic, and the electrical currents that create the movements produce the magnetic field, according to NASA.
Earth's north and south poles also have magnetic field lines extending from them, but they are not perfectly aligned or stable.
The movements of the outer core of the planet are variable, causing fluctuations in the magnetic field and the magnetic poles tilt and migrate. Together, these factors have contributed to the creation of the South Atlantic Anomaly.
"The magnetic field is actually a superposition of fields from many current sources," Terry Sabaka, a geophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland, said in a statement.
A weak area in the magnetic field is more susceptible to close encounters with the solar wind, as well as coronal mass ejections, which are massive clouds of heated plasma and radiation expelled by the Sun.
The Van Allen radiation belts, which surround the Earth, are filled with charged particles and plasma. These donut-shaped belts can generally trap and hold particles and radiation in place, essentially bouncing off Earth's magnetic field.
The belts are part of the Earth's magnetosphere, or the region of space where the Earth's magnetic field interacts with the solar wind.
The Van Allen belts help protect the Earth from radiation.
LOOK : Know the lights that help to understand planetary atmospheric events
The closest of the two belts is 645 km from the Earth's surface, a good distance to protect Earth and its satellites from radiation. It is more stable than the outer belt, which fluctuates and lies between 13,500 and 58,000 km above the Earth's surface.
But there is a downside to the Van Allen belts: The more intense space weather generated by the Sun, which is a rare event, can actually energize the belts, warp the magnetic field, and allow radiation and charged particles to enter. our atmosphere.
Scientists are also studying particle radiation in the area where the anomaly is located using data collected by NASA's Solar, Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX) mission.
The mission operated between 1992 and 2012, and its data helped reveal that the anomaly is moving in a northwesterly direction, meaning that its location changes as the geomagnetic field evolves.
"These particles are closely associated with the magnetic field, which guides their movements," Shri Kanekal, a researcher at NASA Goddard's Heliospheric Physics Laboratory, said in a statement. "Therefore, any knowledge of the particles also provides information about the geomagnetic field."
Preparing for the future
SAMPEX data has been used to design satellites that are less susceptible to failure if they encounter a problem that cuts across the anomaly. The European Space Agency's Swarm mission, launched in 2013, looks at the Earth's magnetic field.
So scientists on Earth can create models and understand their current state. NASA scientists like Sabaka and Weijia Kuang, who is a geophysicist and a mathematician at NASA's Goddard Geodesy and Geophysics Laboratory, combine data from different sources to forecast what rapid changes may occur in the magnetic field in the future.
These members of the NASA team have contributed to the International Geomagnetic Reference Field. This collaborative effort helps with research on topics as varied as the Earth's core and the outer limits of the atmosphere, and models the Earth's magnetic field and its changes.
"This is similar to how weather forecasts are produced, but we are working with much longer timescales," said Andrew Tangborn, a mathematician at Goddard's Planetary Geodynamics Laboratory, in a statement.
NASA scientists will continue to observe the South Atlantic Anomaly with future missions so that they can make models and predictions, as well as better understand the Earth's core.
And missions like NASA's Parker Solar Probe and the European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter are helping us understand the solar wind flowing toward Earth.
POT