By analyzing satellite data, researchers at Shandong University have discovered a massive flow of plasma in Earth’s upper atmosphere. As they stepped up their investigations, they discovered that this geomagnetic storm was actually a space hurricane.
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Space hurricane: a geomagnetic storm associated with the aurora
A space hurricane is a geomagnetic storm that occurs over Earth’s polar ionosphere. This phenomenon is caused by the interaction between the solar winds and the Earth’s magnetic field.
Solar winds are streams of ions and electrons ejected from the sun’s atmosphere at over 2,000 kilometers per second. When these fluxes hit the Earth’s magnetosphere, some of the charged particles are picked up by the magnetic field lines. These particles remain trapped at the level of the Earth’s pole and excite the oxygen atoms in the ionosphere (upper atmosphere, between 60 and 1,000 kilometers above sea level). The atoms release this excess energy by emitting a photon. This luminous phenomenon is known as the “Northern Lights” (“Aurora Borealis” in the Northern Hemisphere).
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A gigantic vortex
Auroras occur during large solar flares. When the solar winds are very fast, they don’t change course. In contrast, when there is quiescent solar and geomagnetic activity, the solar winds can rotate with the geomagnetic field, forming a solar hurricane.
Upon entering the magnetosphere, the solar winds begin to rotate, forming a vortex several tens of thousands of kilometers high. The part of the vortex lying in the ionosphere has the shape of a spiral with several arms rotating counterclockwise. The hurricane is centered on the Earth’s magnetic pole and has an eye at its center, as in the case of a tropical cyclone. Polar lights form in this eye, but they rise towards space: the electrons “rain” and then leave the eye again through the eye of the hurricane.
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2021: Discovery of the first space hurricane
In 2014, researchers at Shandong University in China discovered large amounts of plasma leaking into the magnetosphere. Not only does the phenomenon last eight hours, but it also occurs over the North Pole, leading them to believe it’s not just an aurora. In fact, visible in the arctic zone, these generally last only a few minutes. It was not until 2021 that the researchers came to their conclusion after collecting numerous data: What they observed was a space hurricane. With a diameter of 1,000 kilometers, the hurricane was between 110 and 860 kilometers above sea level and rotated counterclockwise at a speed of 2 kilometers per second.
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Despite its phenomenal size and power, the 2014 space hurricane was not visible to the naked eye. The hurricane happened in the boreal summer, which is the time when the North Pole is exposed to sunlight. In the absence of night, no snapshot could be taken. Scientists were still able to observe the phenomenon through surveys. Like the Northern Lights, the space hurricane blocks radio frequencies penetrating the upper atmosphere. A hurricane can therefore not only affect the operation of telecommunications equipment, but also heat the atmosphere, which would disrupt the orbit of satellites.
It is likely that the space hurricane observed in 2014 will be neither the first nor the last. Scientists believe that this phenomenon can also occur on other planets with a magnetic field.
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