Scientists worried by huge holes in the Earth’s magnetic shield
by Stevie Smith - Dec 18 2008, 15:44
Solar winds set to pound the Earth in 2012. Image: NASA.
According to concerned members of the scientific community, our planet could be at risk of damage from the sun’s energy following the discovery of large holes in the magnetosphere, which protects against potentially damaging solar winds.
Speaking at the American Geophysical Union meeting in San Francisco, University of New Hampshire physicist Jimmy Raeder revealed mistakes have been made in gauging how solar particles can infiltrate the magnetosphere and also how potential damage takes place.
Specifically, findings presented during the meeting showed that around 20 times more solar particles than previously thought are breaking through the planet’s magnetosphere when the magnetic fields of both the Earth and sun are aligned and connected.
When this alignment takes place, the Earth’s magnetic shield is ripped open over the polar regions, which then enables solar winds to create “a breach in the levee,” as Raeder succinctly phrased it.
Previous research had focused on solar particles entering the magnetosphere when the sun’s magnetic field was aligned opposite to that of the Earth.
In describing the discovery, Raeder said in a Reuters report that the massive influx of particles was uncovered when NASA’s five THEMIS space probes happened to pass directly through a “huge” magnetosphere tear as it opened.
Measured at four times wider than the Earth itself, Raeder added that the particle barrage was “in an order of magnitude greater than what we thought was possible.”
While the majority of solar particles are deflected by the magnetosphere, some of them circulate and are energised before then prompting serious electrical storms capable of knocking out power grids, interfering with aircraft, and even damaging satellites.
Scientists have advised that the planetary effects of solar winds, generally considered a peril for unprotected astronauts, are currently quite minimal but are expected to grow much more concentrated towards the end of the 11-year solar cycle. The current cycle is expected to peak in the year 2012.
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