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'Space hurricane' observed above the North Pole - BBC Focus Magazine

'Space hurricane' observed above the North Pole - BBC Focus Magazine

'Space hurricane' observed above the North Pole - BBC Focus Magazine
Mar 02, 2021 1 min, 25 secs

Scientists say they have confirmed the existence of space hurricanes after analysing a 1,000km-wide swirling mass of plasma spotted hundreds of kilometres above the North Pole.

The space hurricane, observed by satellites in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, was raining electrons instead of water.

These events would be expected to lead to important space weather effects and disruption to GPS systems, scientists found.

The findings, which were published in Nature Communications, confirmed the existence of space hurricanes, which had not been detected before.

Professor Mike Lockwood, space scientist at the University of Reading, said the hurricanes could be a universal phenomenon at planets and moons with magnetic fields and plasma.

“Until now, it was uncertain that space plasma hurricanes even existed,” said Lockwood.

“Tropical storms are associated with huge amounts of energy, and these space hurricanes must be created by unusually large and rapid transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles into the Earth’s upper atmosphere.

The space hurricane was found to share many features with hurricanes in the Earth’s lower atmosphere, including a quiet centre, multiple spiral arms and widespread circulation.

The scientists said the hurricanes open a rapid energy transfer channel from space to the ionosphere and thermosphere and would be expected to lead to important space weather effects such as increased satellite drag, disturbances in high frequency radio communications and increased errors in over-the-horizon radar location, satellite navigation and communication systems.

The team said the process may also be important for the interaction between interstellar winds and other solar systems throughout the Universe.

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