For the first time, a hurricane was detected in the upper atmosphere of the earth. In 2014, satellites recorded an enormous flow of plasma that stretched high into the magnetosphere that lasted for hours before spreading.
Although we have never seen anything like it, its detection suggests that space hurricanes, as they are known, can be a common planetary phenomenon.
“Until now, it was uncertain that space plasma hurricanes even exist, so it’s incredible to prove with such a striking observation,” said natural environment physicist Mike Lockwood of the University of Reading in the United Kingdom.
Hurricanes in the lower atmosphere of the earth are common: powerful, rotating weather systems around a relatively quiet center, accompanied by strong winds and faltering rain that can cause a lot of damage in a very short time.
It is also not uncommon on other bodies: Jupiter and Saturn in particular are extremely turbulent places, not to mention the turbulent plasma tornadoes deep in the atmosphere of the sun.
The new work reveals spatial hurricanes, are no different from their cousins in the lower atmosphere.
The detection was done on August 20, 2014 and was released during a retrospective analysis led by Shandong University in China. According to the data, the hurricane appears over the North Pole and extends to a diameter of 1,000 kilometers (621 miles).
It ranged in height from 110 kilometers to 860 kilometers, and consisted of plasma with multiple spiral arms, rotated in an anticlockwise direction at speeds of up to 2100 meters per second (6,900 feet per second). However, the center was almost silent, just like in hurricanes at lower altitudes.
Unlike other hurricanes, however, the spatial hurricane rained electrons into the ionosphere. It had a wonderful effect: a huge, cyclone-shaped aurora beneath the hurricane. The whole thing lasted almost eight hours and deposited enormous amounts of energy and momentum in the ionosphere.
The circumstances were otherwise quiet, which was a mystery. A rain of charged particles in the ionosphere of the solar wind produces glowing green aurorae on the higher latitudes of the earth, but the solar conditions were relatively quiet at the time. The team therefore turned to modeling to determine what caused the plasma movement.
“Tropical storms are associated with large amounts of energy, and these space hurricanes must be created by extraordinarily large and rapid transmissions of solar wind energy and charged particles to the earth’s upper atmosphere,” Lockwood explained.
We know that the reconnection of magnetic field lines can transmit solar energy in the magnetosphere and ionosphere, so the team modeled this process and found that an interplanetary magnetic field that can be reconnected can deliver the characteristics they have in the hurricane in space. observed even when the solar wind is low. . In fact, the low solar wind may be the key – it provides a more efficient magnetic reconnection.
It also means that such storms can occur fairly commonly.
“Plasma and magnetic fields in the atmosphere of planets exist throughout the universe, and the findings suggest that hurricanes in space must be a widespread phenomenon,” Lockwood said.
There are also implications for the earth. Knowing that aurorae can be the product of hurricanes in space, and what these aurorae look like there, can help us identify such storms in the future.
It also shows that, even if the geomagnetic conditions are relatively quiet, space can generate extreme weather that can affect life on earth and the sky above.
“This study suggests that there are still local, intense geomagnetic disturbances and energy deposits, comparable to those during superstorms. This will refresh our understanding of the coupling process of the solar wind magnetosphere ionosphere under extremely quiet geomagnetic conditions,” he said. the space physicist said. and first author, Qing-He Zhang of Shandong University.
“In addition, the space hurricane will lead to important space weather effects such as increased satellite resistance, interference in high-frequency radio communications and increased errors in radar rooms over the horizon, satellite navigation and communications systems.”
The research was published in Nature communication.