Cracks in Earth's Magnetic Shield
Immense cracks in our planet's magnetic field can remain open for hours, allowing the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.

According to new observations, however, from NASA's IMAGE spacecraft and the joint NASA/European Space Agency Cluster satellites, immense cracks sometimes develop in Earth's magnetosphere and remain open for hours. This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.

https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/03dec_magneticcracks

On Tuesday, 6 September 2022 at 00:11:10 UTC+2, a a wrote:
> Cracks in Earth's Magnetic Shield
> Immense cracks in our planet's magnetic field can remain open for hours, allowing the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.
>
> According to new observations, however, from NASA's IMAGE spacecraft and the joint NASA/European Space Agency Cluster satellites, immense cracks sometimes develop in Earth's magnetosphere and remain open for hours. This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.
>
>
> https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/03dec_magneticcracks
In 1961, Jim Dungey of the Imperial College, United Kingdom, predicted that cracks might form in the magnetic shield when the solar wind contained a magnetic field that was oriented in the opposite direction to a portion of the Earth's field. In these regions, the two magnetic fields would interconnect through a process known as "magnetic reconnection," forming a crack in the shield through which the electrically charged particles of the solar wind could flow.

Left: An artist's rendition of magnetic reconnection. The amber-brown lines denote lines of magnetic force. The bright spot is where oppositely-directed fields are making contact and "reconnecting."

In 1979, Goetz Paschmann of the Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics in Germany detected the cracks using the International Sun Earth Explorer (ISEE) spacecraft. However, since this spacecraft only briefly passed through the cracks during its orbit, it was unknown if the cracks were temporary features or if they were stable for long periods.

In the new observations, the Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) satellite revealed an area almost the size of California in the arctic upper atmosphere where a 75-megawatt "proton aurora" flared for hours. A proton aurora is a form of Northern Lights caused by heavy solar ions striking Earth's upper atmosphere, causing it to emit ultraviolet light--invisible to the human eye but detectable by the Far Ultraviolet Imager on IMAGE. While this aurora was being recorded by IMAGE, the 4-satellite Cluster constellation flew far above IMAGE, directly through the crack, and detected solar wind ions streaming through it.

Below: An artist's rendition of the four Cluster satellites near a stream of solar ions pouring in through a crack in the magnetosphere. [more]

see caption
This stream of solar wind ions bombarded our atmosphere in precisely the same region where IMAGE saw the proton aurora. The fact that IMAGE was able to view the proton aurora for more than 9 hours implies that the crack remained continuously open. Researchers estimate that the crack was twice the size of Earth at the boundary of our magnetic shield--about 38,000 miles (60,000 km) above the planet's surface. Since the magnetic field converges as it enters the Earth in the polar regions, the crack narrowed to about the size of California down near the upper atmosphere.

Fortunately, these cracks don't expose Earth's surface to the solar wind. Our atmosphere protects us, even when our magnetic field doesn't. The effects of solar storms are felt mainly in the high upper atmosphere and the region of space around Earth where satellites orbit.

Stay tuned later this week for a follow-up story from Science@NASA about how magnetic cracks have lately sparked beautiful auroras--a phenomenon of the upper atmosphere--in some unexpected places.

more information

IMAGE was launched March 25, 2000, to provide a global view of the space around Earth influenced by the Earth's magnetic field. The Cluster satellites, built by ESA, and launched July 16, 2000, are making a three-dimensional map of the Earth's magnetic field. Click here for images, movies and more information.

The Sun Goes Haywire -- (Science@NASA) Solar maximum is years past, yet the sun has been remarkably active lately. Is the sunspot cycle broken?

Solar Superstorm -- (Science@NASA) Scientists are beginning to understand a historic solar storm in 1859.

On Monday, September 5, 2022 at 6:11:10 PM UTC-4, a a wrote:
> Cracks in Earth's Magnetic Shield
> Immense cracks in our planet's magnetic field can remain open for hours, allowing the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.
>
> According to new observations, however, from NASA's IMAGE spacecraft and the joint NASA/European Space Agency Cluster satellites, immense cracks sometimes develop in Earth's magnetosphere and remain open for hours. This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.
>
>
> https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/03dec_magneticcracks

Of course none of this ever happened until the physicists discovered it, right?

a a <manta103g@gmail.com> wrote in
news:98d40f8b-bba7-4309-b7c0-992f81d17777n@googlegroups.com:

> This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space
> weather.

Obviously some of it gushed through and made it past your tin hat as
well.

You are stupid, boy.

On 06/09/2022 01:44, Fred Bloggs wrote:
> On Monday, September 5, 2022 at 6:11:10 PM UTC-4, a a wrote:
>> Cracks in Earth's Magnetic Shield
>> Immense cracks in our planet's magnetic field can remain open for hours, allowing the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.
>>
>> According to new observations, however, from NASA's IMAGE spacecraft and the joint NASA/European Space Agency Cluster satellites, immense cracks sometimes develop in Earth's magnetosphere and remain open for hours. This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather.
>>
>>
>> https://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2003/03dec_magneticcracks
>
> Of course none of this ever happened until the physicists discovered it, right?

NB note the "*space* weather" the threat is to satellites that would
normally be protected inside the Earth's magnetosphere but for a short
while find themselves facing the solar wind.

These events can give spectacular auroras at lower latitudes than normal
but they are insignificant to terrestrial weather.

I don't like the term "space weather". Outside the atmosphere it is
pretty much vacuum with minute traces of ionised gas and fast particles.

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

On Tuesday, 6 September 2022 at 04:31:06 UTC+2, DecadentLinux...@decadence.org wrote:

You are smart dog

DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno@decadence.org wrote in news:tf6bco$1k4i$1
@gioia.aioe.org:

> a a <manta103g@gmail.com> wrote in
> news:98d40f8b-bba7-4309-b7c0-992f81d17777n@googlegroups.com:
>
>> This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space
>> weather.
>
> Obviously some of it gushed through and made it past your tin hat as
> well.
>
> You are stupid, boy.

Oh, damn... I spelled "piece of shit" wrong again.

Correction:

You are a *truly stupid* piece of shit.

On Tue, 6 Sep 2022 20:33:06 -0000 (UTC),
DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno@decadence.org wrote:

>DecadentLinuxUserNumeroUno@decadence.org wrote in news:tf6bco$1k4i$1
>@gioia.aioe.org:
>
>> a a <manta103g@gmail.com> wrote in
>> news:98d40f8b-bba7-4309-b7c0-992f81d17777n@googlegroups.com:
>>
>>> This allows the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space
>>> weather.
>>
>> Obviously some of it gushed through and made it past your tin hat as
>> well.
>>
>> You are stupid, boy.
>
> Oh, damn... I spelled "piece of shit" wrong again.
>

But it's your favorite word.