For the first time, a hurricane was detected in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. In 2014, the satellites recorded a huge vortex of plasma expanding into the magnetosphere, which lasted for hours before scattering.
Although we have never seen anything like it, its detection suggests that space hurricanes, as we know, could be a common planetary phenomenon.
“Until now, it was uncertain that space plasma hurricanes existed, so it’s incredible to prove this with such a striking observation,” said space physicist Mike Lockwood of the University of Reading in the UK.
Hurricanes in the Earth’s lower atmosphere are common: strong and rotating weather systems around a relatively calm center, accompanied by strong winds and rain that can cause large amounts of damage in a very short time.
They are not unusual for other bodies: Jupiter and Saturn, in particular, are extremely turbulent places, not to mention plasma tornadoes that fly deep into the Sun’s atmosphere.
Space hurricanes, reveals the new work, are no different from their cousins with a lower atmosphere.
The detections were made on August 20, 2014 and were revealed during a retrospective analysis conducted by Shandong University in China. According to the data, the hurricane appeared over the North Pole, extending to a diameter of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).
It reached from 110 kilometers to 860 kilometers in altitude and consisted of plasma with several spiral arms, which rotate counterclockwise at speeds of up to 2,100 meters per second (6,900 feet per second). However, the center was almost still, as in the case of hurricanes at lower altitudes.
Unlike other hurricanes, however, the space hurricane rained electrons into the ionosphere. This had an amazing effect: a huge, cyclone-shaped hurricane under the hurricane. The whole thing lasted almost eight hours, depositing large amounts of energy and momentum in the ionosphere.
The conditions were otherwise calm, which was a mystery. A rain of ionosphere-laden particles from the solar wind is what usually produces bright green auroras at the upper latitudes of the Earth, but solar conditions at the time were relatively calm. So the team focused on modeling to determine what caused the plasma noise.
“Tropical storms are associated with huge amounts of energy, and these space hurricanes must be created by the unusually large and rapid transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles into the Earth’s upper atmosphere,” Lockwood explained.
We know that reconnecting magnetic field lines can transfer solar wind energy into the magnetosphere and ionosphere, so the team modeled this process and found that a reconnecting interplanetary magnetic field can produce the features they observed in the space hurricane, even then. when the solar wind is low. . In fact, low solar wind could be the key – it allows for more efficient magnetic reconnection.
It also means that such storms could be quite common.
“Plasma and magnetic fields in the planet’s atmosphere exist throughout the universe, so the findings suggest that space hurricanes should be a widespread phenomenon,” Lockwood said.
There are implications for the Earth as well. Knowing that auroras can be the product of space hurricanes and what these auroras look like, could help us identify other such storms in the future.
It also shows that, even when geomagnetic conditions are relatively calm, space can cause extreme weather that can affect life on Earth and the sky above it.
“This study suggests that there are still intense local geomagnetic disturbances and energy deposits that are comparable to those during super storms. This will update our understanding of the process of solar-magnetosphere-ionosphere wind coupling under extremely calm geomagnetic conditions,” he said. said the space physicist and first author, Qing-He Zhang of Shandong University.
“In addition, the space hurricane will lead to significant space weather effects, such as increased satellite frequency, disruptions in high-frequency radio communications, and increased errors in radar location over the horizon, satellite navigation, and communications systems.”
The research was published in Communications about nature.