Researchers have now succeeded in detecting a hurricane in space.
The cyclone caused electrons to rain instead of water.
Jinan - cyclones and hurricanes are actually only known as phenomena of the earth, where they usually cause great destruction (* FR reported).
But scientists have now for the first time detected a hurricane in space.
An international team of researchers from China, the USA, Norway and Great Britain evaluated satellite data from 2014 and published their results in the
journal Nature Communications
.
In contrast to the terrestrial hurricane, the space storm did not arise in the air, but in the plasma of the ionosphere, which is composed of ionized gas.
Electromagnetic parts of the solar wind rotated in a circle.
The vortex was driven by the earth's magnetic field.
After about eight hours over the North Pole, the vortex collapsed.
Space hurricane: vortex causes electrons to rain
Instead of the usual on our planet, it did not rain water, but energetic electrons.
They formed a spectacular polar light phenomenon.
The “drizzle” of electrons is said to have covered an area of more than 1,000 square kilometers.
This is a remarkable find for the scientists.
The team was led by Qing-He Zhang, professor of astrophysics at Shandong University in China.
“We had no idea!” Said Kjellmar Oksavik, professor at the Birkeland Center for Space Science in Bergen, Norway, about the find.
"Our study shows [...] that there can be local geomagnetic disturbances on Earth, even if space weather looks generally calm," said Professor Zhang, according to a press release from Reading University.
Space researcher: "Important new puzzle piece"
The space storms are not without danger.
“These space hurricanes can affect satellites and infrastructure that communicates with radio waves.
This includes radar sensors, as well as satellite-based navigation and communication systems. "
The discovery of this hurricane is a kind of milestone for space research.
Oksavik describes it as "an important new piece of the puzzle".
Because it is still about the extent to which the earth is "coupled" with space.
The latest evaluations have made it easier to understand the coupling of the solar wind, magnetosphere and ionosphere.
* FR
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