Dec 4 2003
From The Space Library
Scientists studying data from NASA's Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite and ESA's four-satellite Cluster constellation published a study in the journal Nature reporting that solar wind creates large cracks in Earth's magnetic field, allowing the wind to penetrate the magnetic field and causing geomagnetic storms. The leader of the study, Harald U. Frey of the University of California at Berkeley, stated that the data showed that the cracks do not open and close sporadically, as scientists had previously thought, but rather, that the cracks can remain open for several hours. Using this information, scientists would be able to create a better model of the affect of space weather on Earth, helping them to predict geomagnetic storms, which disrupt power, interfere with satellites, and endanger astronauts. IMAGE had monitored a spot in Earth's upper atmosphere, revealing an area of heavy particles (ions) striking the ionosphere above the Arctic region, thereby creating an aurora with enough energy to power 75,000 homes. Unlike the auroras known as the northern and southern lights, this aurora was not visible to the human eye. Far above the IMAGE satellite, the Cluster constellation had flown through the opening created by the solar wind's interaction with Earth's protective magnetic field. The scientists estimated that the size of the crack was twice that of Earth. The crack occurred at the edge of the magnetic field, 38,000 miles (61,155 kilometers) above the planet. (H. U. Frey et al., “Continuous Magnetic Reconnection at Earth's Magnetopause,” Nature 426, no. 6966 (4 December 2003): 533-537; Maggie Fox for Reuters, “Cracks Let Solar Wind Disrupt Earth's Atmosphere,” 4 December 2003; Chris Kridler, “Protective Layer's Cracks Make Earth Vulnerable,” Florida Today (Brevard, FL), 4 December 2003.
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