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Science First space storm seen impacting above Earth
Science First space storm seen impacting above Earth | First space storm seen impacting above Earth |
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| by William Atkins | |
| Wednesday, 10 June 2009 | |
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Science DiscussionsPhysicists from the University of Alberta (Canada) and University of California (United States) wrote up their conclusions in the January 2009 article “Timing and localization of ionospheric signatures associated with substorm expansion phase onset” within the Journal of Geophysical Research (doi:10.1029/2008JA013559). The authors are I. Jonathan Rae, Ian R. Mann, Kyle R. Murphy, David K. Milling, Adrienne Parent, Clare E. J. Watt, and Andy Kale, all from the Department of Physics at the University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; Vassilis Angelopoulos and Christopher T. Russell, both from the Institute of Geophysics and Planetary Physics, University of California, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A.; and Stephen B. Mende and Harald U. Frey, both from the Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California, U.S.A. They used cameras, including the ones onboard the five space-based satellites from NASA’s Themis (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions During Substorms) mission, and magnetic instruments, at various ground stations across Canada, to observe the impact epicenter of a space storm (geomagnetic storm) that originated in the Sun. That is, magnetic ripples in Earth’s ionosphere were formed when plasma from solar flares or coronal mass ejections (within the solar wind) travels about 1 to 1.5 days (from the Sun to the Earth), explodes over the Earth, and, then, rapidly spreads from an initial point and eventually forming an aurora. Such solar storms can produce about 50 gigawatts of power. What the scientists call "space seismology," they use equipment to look into the “eye of the storm," which has originated hundreds of thousands of miles above the Earth. Dr. Jonathan Rae, on of the authors of the study, stated, “It almost looks like a rock in a pond.” He was referring to the ripple effect when one skips a rock over the surface of water. [New Scientist, “Space Storms,” May 30-June 5, 2009, page 5] Page two continues. |
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