Space hurricane over North Pole rained charged electrons

“Until now, it was uncertain whether space plasma hurricanes even existed, so proving it with such a vivid observation is incredible,” said Mike Lockwood, a space environmental physicist at the University of Reading, in a statement to The Weather Channel.

This hurricane was observed in the magnetosphere – no, it’s not related to the X-Men, although that would be great – which is the space surrounding the Earth where charged particles are affected, in this case, by the field. magnetic earth. It was this magnetosphere that helped scientists determine that the 2014 space hurricane rained down charged electrons.

Electrons rained down on the planet’s ionosphere, which is “a part of Earth’s upper atmosphere that is ionized or charged by solar radiation,” according to The Weather Channel, which created a huge cyclone-shaped aurora. . This aurora, and all of the aurora that are commonly seen in the North Pole or South Pole regions of the world, occur when there is a disturbance in the magnetosphere.

According to the scientists and their summary, this space hurricane was made of plasma and featured several explosive arms that whirled counterclockwise at speeds as fast as 2,100 meters per second or 4,698 miles per hour. Much like the hurricanes that occur here on Earth, the eye of this space hurricane remained motionless as the rest of the storm swirled rapidly around it.

The results of the team’s findings mean that the aurora can now be used to potentially identify space hurricanes. It also means that the magnetosphere, previously considered a calm region, may be the site of certain severe conditions, such as that of a space hurricane, that could eventually affect Earth’s lower spheres, according to The Weather Channel.

“This study suggests that there are still strong local geomagnetic disturbances and energy deposits, which is comparable to that of super-storms,” ​​wrote Qing-He Zhang, space physicist and study leader at the ‘Shandong University. “This will update our understanding of the solar wind-magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling process under extremely quiet geomagnetic conditions.”

For more science, check out this story on dust storms on Mars that glow purple with tiny sparks then read about these spooky circles in space that confuse astronomers. Consult the IGN list of top 10 best disaster movies ever made after.

Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance writer and guide for the IGN. You can follow it on Twitter @LeBlancWes.