Giant Breach in Earth's Magnetic Field

[cali]

12.16.2008


Dec. 16, 2008: NASA's five THEMIS spacecraft have discovered a breach in Earth's magnetic field ten times larger than anything previously thought to exist. Solar wind can flow in through the opening to "load up" the magnetosphere for powerful geomagnetic storms. But the breach itself is not the biggest surprise. Researchers are even more amazed at the strange and unexpected way it forms, overturning long-held ideas of space physics.

"At first I didn't believe it," says THEMIS project scientist David Sibeck of the Goddard Space Flight Center. "This finding fundamentally alters our understanding of the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction."

The magnetosphere is a bubble of magnetism that surrounds Earth and protects us from solar wind. Exploring the bubble is a key goal of the THEMIS mission, launched in February 2007. The big discovery came on June 3, 2007, when the five probes serendipitously flew through the breach just as it was opening. Onboard sensors recorded a torrent of solar wind particles streaming into the magnetosphere, signaling an event of unexpected size and importance.

Right: One of the THEMIS probes exploring the space around Earth, an artist's concept.

"The opening was huge—four times wider than Earth itself," says Wenhui Li, a space physicist at the University of New Hampshire who has been analyzing the data. Li's colleague Jimmy Raeder, also of New Hampshire, says "1027 particles per second were flowing into the magnetosphere—that's a 1 followed by 27 zeros. This kind of influx is an order of magnitude greater than what we thought was possible."

The event began with little warning when a gentle gust of solar wind delivered a bundle of magnetic fields from the Sun to Earth. Like an octopus wrapping its tentacles around a big clam, solar magnetic fields draped themselves around the magnetosphere and cracked it open. The cracking was accomplished by means of a process called "magnetic reconnection." High above Earth's poles, solar and terrestrial magnetic fields linked up (reconnected) to form conduits for solar wind. Conduits over the Arctic and Antarctic quickly expanded; within minutes they overlapped over Earth's equator to create the biggest magnetic breach ever recorded by Earth-orbiting spacecraft.


<snip>
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/16dec_giantbreach.htm

[damntexdem]

1. Does that explain how the shoes got so close to Dubya?

[JuniperLea]

4. No, but it explains the speed!

I hear that guy is getting offers from baseball teams:)

[anigbrowl]

2. Damn Republicans. Obama bettrer fix this and jail those responsible.

[JuniperLea]

3. This is kinda creepy...

Although I love it when scientists find that some of their long-held ideas are crap, the fact they are so shocked is rather unnerving. This story is worthy of further tracking.

Good find, cali.

[leftofthedial]

5. well I can tell you right now, straight up,

this finding has ZERO effect on my understanding of the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

6. Gosh. You mean we aren't in charge?

[Greyskye]

7. Last paragraphs of article are worthy of note:

Northern IMF events don't actually trigger geomagnetic storms, notes Raeder, but they do set the stage for storms by loading the magnetosphere with plasma. A loaded magnetosphere is primed for auroras, power outages, and other disturbances that can result when, say, a CME (coronal mass ejection) hits.

The years ahead could be especially lively. Raeder explains: "We're entering Solar Cycle 24. For reasons not fully understood, CMEs in even-numbered solar cycles (like 24) tend to hit Earth with a leading edge that is magnetized north. Such a CME should open a breach and load the magnetosphere with plasma just before the storm gets underway. It's the perfect sequence for a really big event."

Sibeck agrees. "This could result in stronger geomagnetic storms than we have seen in many years."

On the plus side, it's going to be a good time to check out the auroras. I've always wanted to do that.

[marybourg]

10. Do you know about this:

http://salmon.nict.go.jp/live/aurora_cam/live_aurora_cam_e.html

[Greyskye]

12. I wasn't aware of that, thanks!

I'm assuming it only goes live at night. I'll have to remember and check that page after dark. :hi:

I'm sure that it's still nothing like seeing it in person, though. Someday...

[JuniperLea]

15. Didn't they credit geomagnetic storms with...

The ruination of a communications satellite or two?

I'm curious about the "really big event!"

[kimmerspixelated]

8. Does this coincide with

the solar flares of recent news? It was reported that one was so long it was on course to Jupiter, and that we may not be so lucky next time. Does the breach make said event more likely to occur? Fascinating and scary stuff.

[Gregorian]

9. It's amazing what we know. And even more what we don't know.

What an incredible universe.

[machI]

11. No surprise to the Department of Defense, they had HAARP running during the breach.

Hold on while I adjust my Aluminum Foil Hat ...

Those techno-geeks over at the Department of the Navy were trying to communicate with a submarine, and they blew a hole in the Earth's magnetic field. While they were at it, they melted another 100 tons of ice on Greenland.

<>

[BrotherBuzz]

13. Back in my day the Van Allen radiation belts were the big thing

The magnetosphere is huge, it engulfs the Van Allen belts!

[Ichingcarpenter]

14. Oh Good because we just had a solar flare (with photo)

Hours ago, something on the far side of the sun exploded and hurled a massive cloud of debris (a CME) over the eastern limb. Using a coronagraph to block the sun's glare, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) photographed the cloud expanding into space:





NASA's Stereo-B spacecraft is stationed over the sun's eastern limb, but it was not taking pictures at the probable time of the eruption, so details of the blast are unknown. The CME could herald an active region (e.g., a sunspot or perhaps an unstable magnetic filament) turning to face Earth in the days ahead. Stay tuned for updates.



link:
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

[DemoTex]

16. Does that mean better DXing on the HF bands?

These 11-year-cycle troughs suck. Welcome to Solar Cycle 24 (began Jan. 24, 2008).

73s



http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/10jan_solarcycle24.htm
http://www.solarcycle24.com/

[EstimatedProphet]

17. I bet this is why the world will end in 2012

[TahitiNut]

18. You can use '[sup]27[/sup] ' to get ...

"10²⁷ particles per second"

[Are_grits_groceries]

19. Lot's of weird stuff.

Sunspots also disappeared completely for a while, and have been at an all time low.
Earthquakes are shaking in different places. Two of the places are where 2 humongous
quakes occurred many moons ago - Missouri, and Charleston, SC.
Canes and quakes....

[DS1]

20. This just means that trans-fats and olestra are back on the menu

:woohoo: