Scientists pointed to a first “space hurricane” swirling over the Earth.
According to a study published in the journal Nature Communications, the 600-kilometer-wide plasma mass occurred several hundred kilometers above the North Pole.
“Until now, it was uncertain that even space plasma hurricanes existed, so proving it with such a shocking observation is incredible,” said Mike Lockwood, a space scientist at the University of Reading and co-author of the study. , in a statement. .
The show was captured by satellites in August 2014, but was only recently discovered during research led by scientists at Shandong University in China.
Space hurricanes “rained” electrons instead of water, had several spiral arms, and lasted eight hours before gradually disappearing, the researchers said.
“Tropical storms are associated with large amounts of energy and these space hurricanes must be created by an unusually large and rapid transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles into the Earth’s upper atmosphere,” he said. Lockwood.
The discovery of the “space hurricane” during a period of low geometric activity suggests they may be a common phenomenon, Lockwood said.
“Plasma and magnetic fields in the planets’ atmosphere exist throughout the universe, so the findings suggest that space hurricanes should be a widespread phenomenon, ”he said.