scientist have deal to observe magnetized “ explosions ” near Earth using a fleet of spacecraft that are currently in orbit around our major planet .
publish in the journalScience , a team from the University of New Hampshire ( UNH ) describe how NASA ’s four space vehicle in the Magnetospheric Multiscale ( MMS ) missionary work fly through a magnetic reconnection issue for a few second on multiple occasions , providing cod datum back on Earth .
" This was a remarkable event , " say Roy Torbert from the UNH in astatement . " We have long known that it occur in two character of regimes : asymmetric and symmetric but this is the first time we have seen a symmetric process . "
charismatic reconnection is the summons whereby magnetic field of battle lines basically “ snap ” together . In Earth celestial orbit , this happens when the solar wind interacts with Earth ’s magnetic theatre of operations line . The event unfreeze a huge amount of energy , and is thought to be the driver of quad atmospheric condition process like our aurorae .
The MMS orbiter launched in 2015 on a mission to learn more about how magnetic reconnection whole shebang . In the first half of the mission , they studied reconnection on the sunward side of Earth , where the process occurs asymmetrically and electrons are crusade aside at ultrasonic speed .
Now the first symmetrical event has been spotted . On July 11 , 2017 , the spacecraft flew through a part of Earth ’s magnetotail where its magnetic playing area lines snapped together , labor out electrons at 20,000 kilometers ( 12,000 mi ) per minute , notedGizmodo .
It ’s think that the events on the sunward sidedump energyinto Earth ’s magnetosphere , whereas those on the night side dump Department of Energy into our atmosphere , which is how they drive sunrise . This can also affect satellites in orbit and grid system on the planet .
Other events are thought to be driven by reconnection too , such as solar flash on the Sun . " This is authoritative because the more we know and translate about these reconnections … the more we can machinate for extreme events that are possible from reconnections around the Earth or anywhere in the universe of discourse , " Torbert add in the assertion .
And the late information proves that , while these result are small , they are powerful enough to send particlesstreaming into our standard pressure . So next clock time you see an aurora , just remember it was in all probability sparked by a weird magnetic event in Earth ’s magnetotail .
