Solar storms can cause electrons to be removed from our atmosphere.
A new study reveals the phenomenon behind strange events in the Earth’s atmosphere such as the highly popular Northern Lights found across the Arctic. The cause may be due to the capacity of solar storms to remove electrons from our planet’s atmosphere.
The study was conducted by researchers from NASA’s Jet Propulsion Library, DTU Space, the University of Brunswick and the University of Illinois, who wanted to gained a better understanding of the effects of solar storms.
The researchers learned that Earth is exposed to large quantities of electrically charged particles every time a solar storm occurs. This, in turn, can lead to the creation of storms on our planet and even generate the aesthetically-pleasing Northern Lights.
However, the solar eruptions which take place on the surface of the Sun also have the effect of eliminating electrons from Earth’s atmosphere over a considerably large area. Furthermore, the solar events can be quite disruptive for navigation and communication systems, especially those at higher altitudes.
The researchers reveal that during solar storms, electrons are being sent into Earth’s ionosphere, almost 50 miles above the surface. As a result, the magnetic field of Earths is weakened, allowing the electrons and other particles to pass through the ionosphere, where normally they would just be reflected.
While this already a known phenomenon, the recent research reveals that at the same time as that phenomenon, another one occurs which leads to massive amounts of electrons being removed from the atmosphere.
The researchers were able to monitor the overall effects of one solar storm taking place over the Arctic in 2014. They observed how electrons were almost vacuum-cleaned from large areas measuring 500 to 1,000 kilometers. This phenomenon takes place in areas with a high density of electrons, areas known as patches.
The study was published in the journal Radio Science. The authors reveal that the explanation behind this electron-removal phenomenon is found in the various geomagnetic processes which take place in the magnetic field of the planet but in a different direction from where the Sun is located.
What do you think about the study’s findings? Have you seen the Northern Lights in person?
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