For the first time in history, satellites detected a space hurricane. This acted on the north pole of the earth. It was a gigantic mass of plasma that created a shower of electrons. It was 700 kilometers above the North Pole.
Special features of the space hurricane
The phenomenon was discovered in 2014, and the data collected by the satellites was analyzed by scientists from Shandong University in China. On August 20 of this year, a hurricane appeared in satellite images over the North Pole with a diameter of 1,000 kilometers. At its peak, it reached an altitude of 110 kilometers with a multitude of arms twisting in a spiral. The direction of rotation was counterclockwise and reached a speed of 2,100 meters per second.
The space hurricane behaved similarly to the lower atmosphere. The center remained static, as did the eye of a land hurricane. Likewise, the scientists discovered that their behavior has physics almost identical to the hurricanes that affect areas of the Caribbean.
Although the differences in terms of rain are significant. The main difference is that it rained electrons instead of water during the space hurricane. The phenomenon was a gigantic aurora and during its development large amounts of energy were deposited in the earth’s ionosphere. It lasted several hours and deposited energy from the solar wind into the ionosphere
Know more details about this hurricane
According to scientists at the University of Reading in England, this type of space hurricane was unknown. They explained that plasma is a gas whose atoms break apart when they collide at high temperatures. Meanwhile, the negative electrons combine with the positive ions and have free will.
The discovered phenomenon occurs in the ionosphere. It is the layer that surrounds the three lower sub-layers of the atmosphere (mesosphere, thermosphere and exosphere). The ionosphere always has very active behavior as it shrinks or expands with the energy it receives from the sun.
During the phenomenon, thousands of pictures were taken and processed by scientists from Shandong University for over two years. According to experts, these hurricanes have existed before, but they never had images as sharp as those taken in 2014.
They analyze the information from the hurricane
The study of this phenomenon has other aims as well. First, understand how this natural phenomenon can affect terrestrial communication. Also analyze the interference they can cause in radio communication. They also realized that errors were found in the country’s GPS during the phenomenon.
According to experts at the Chinese university, this discovery raises many questions. If they are seasonal like that of the Caribbean, what force controls their rotation in space or whether they can be detected before they occur.
