Just over six years ago, a hurricane-like storm started flying over us in space and we knew nothing different. Now, years later, scientists suggest that they have obtained evidence of what they call a “space hurricane”, a phenomenon made of plasma in the upper atmosphere of the Earth.
The news comes through a study published in the latest issue of the magazine. Nature Communications magazine. There, researchers say that a space hurricane broke out again on August 20, 2014. Compared to a terrestrial hurricane that rains water, the study says that this cosmic storm moved into the upper atmosphere of our planet.
The storm was located over the North Pole and was created by the “magnetic reconnection of the high latitude lobe with constant direct current” for almost eight hours in 2014. Due to its composition, it was not visible to the human eye. Better yet, the researchers involved in the study say that similar storms could theoretically occur on any planet with a magnetic shield and a plasma-filled atmosphere.
“Until now, there was no certainty of the existence of space plasma tornadoes, so proving it with such an astonishing observation is unbelievable,” said Mike Lockwood of the University of Reading in a statement. Lockwood worked as one of the study’s co-authors, adding: “Tropical storms are associated with enormous amounts of energy, and these space hurricanes must be created by the large and rapid transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles to the Earth’s upper atmosphere. “
“Magnetic and plasma fields in the atmosphere of the planets are found across the universe, so the results indicate that space hurricanes must be a widespread phenomenon,” added Lockwood.
The study is sure to indicate that this particular “hurricane” is the first of these storms to be observed, and it is quite possible that it occurred elsewhere in the universe.
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