The existence of space hurricanes confirmed. An international team of scientists led by the University of Shandong (China) has published the discovery of a new type of space weather phenomenon : it is a space hurricane. An event far above the polar regions of our planet, in which the plasma moves like a typhoon or a hurricane. Specifically, the milestone took place in August 2014, during a period of extremely calm geomagnetic conditions and much closer to the magnetic North Pole than the average northern lights.
Until now we knew that, as the particles rise or fall, a zone of low pressures can form and, hence, hurricanes arise. What we did not know is that electrically charged particles in the ionosphere can act in exactly the same way , creating these “space hurricanes.”
“Until now, it was uncertain that space plasma hurricanes existed, so proving this with such an amazing observation is incredible, ” explains Mike Lockwood, a space scientist from the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading to the journal Nature Communications. collects the study. “Tropical storms are associated with enormous amounts of energy, and these space hurricanes must be created by an unusually large and rapid transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles to Earth’s upper atmosphere.”
The scientists analyzed a 1,000-kilometer-wide swirling plasma mass detected hundreds of kilometers above the North Pole. Observations show a large cyclone-shaped auroral spot with a near zero center of flux and strong circular horizontal plasma flow. Although in this case, instead of causing a rain of water, as in the case of other hurricanes, electrons rained into the ionosphere. The space hurricane moved in a counterclockwise rotation and lasted about eight hours before breaking apart, the researchers explain.
Will it happen on the other planets?
This space weather event could be a universal phenomenon on planets and moons with magnetic fields and plasma, experts say. “Until now, it was uncertain that space plasma hurricanes existed, so proving this with such an amazing observation is incredible,” says Lockwood. “Magnetic and plasma fields in the atmosphere of planets exist throughout the universe, so the findings suggest that space hurricanes should be a widespread phenomenon.”
Does it have any consequences for our planet?
The space hurricane will cause significant meteorological effects on Earth, such as increased resistance from satellites, disturbances in high frequency (HF) radio communications and increased errors in the location of the radar over the horizon, navigation satellite and communication systems, the authors conclude.
Referencia: Qing-He Zhang, Yong-Liang Zhang, Chi Wang, Kjellmar Oksavik, Larry R. Lyons, Michael Lockwood, Hui-Gen Yang, Bin-Bin Tang, Jøran Idar Moen, Zan-Yang Xing, Yu-Zhang Ma, Xiang-Yu Wang, Ya-Fei Ning, Li-Dong Xia. A space hurricane over the Earth’s polar ionosphere. Nature Communications, 2021; 12 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-21459-y
