Scientists Find Hole In Earth's Magnetic Field

Velorium writes "The Earth's magnetic field has been found to have two large holes that are making Earth's surface vulnerable to solar winds. Despite what scientists originally thought, these holes allow 20 times the normal amount of solar particles through when they are facing away from the sun. This is the opposite of what the scientists had first speculated."

Comments

Re:Hmmm....

[ceoyoyo]

Physics.

These aren't unusual, new, or different in any way to what has always happened. Despite the alarmist summary, the point of the article was that more particles sneak through the magnetosphere when the fields of the sun and earth are aligned (opposite to what was believed) and that we had a satellite in the right place to watch this happening.

Re:So what does this mean?

[ceoyoyo]

No, we didn't cause it. Yes, it's always been happening, but yes we always knew about it. We just had one of the details backwards - more particles get through when the sun and earth fields are aligned rather than opposite, as was previously believed.

No, it doesn't affect climate change. The repercussions is that the poles get aurorae (revolutionary, I know, particularly as I grew up under them), and that if we get a really bad solar storm with the right conditions it can be bad for the power grid. As has been dramatically demonstrated several times ever since we started building power grids.

Bad Summary?

[NotmyNick]

Despite what scientists originally thought, these holes allow 20 times the normal amount of solar particles through when they are facing away from the sun. This being opposite from what the scientists had originally speculated.

Apparently submitted by the department of redundancy department apparently, the problem is that's not what the article actually says.

Scientists once believed that the particles entered when the sun's magnetic field was aligned opposite to that of the Earth's. But findings presented at the meeting show that 20 times more solar particles enter the Earth's magnetic field when it is aligned in the same direction as the sun's magnetic field.

It the alignment of the fields North-to-South being discussed and nightside effects are not explicitly discussed. Some clarification by a physicist would seem in order.

Re:There's a hole

[dgatwood]

Now that is funny. Guess it went over the moderators' heads. A Henry is a unit of inductance. Grossly oversimplified, inductance is basically the property by which current produces an electromagnetic field....

Re:Okay, what did we do this time?

[ArsenneLupin]

We prefer these orbits because they best serve the equatorial regions we have monopolized.

I know I should be feeding a troll, but the reason for putting most communications' satellites into equatorial orbits is that these are the only orbits that can be geostationary (satellite stays put relatively to the surface).

You really prefer to be able to leave your antenna's pointed to the same spot in the sky, rather than having to equip it with a motor that follows the satellite around.

Re:Holes near poles

[hydrofix]

Exactly. The article subject is totally utterly incorect - we have known that Earth's magnetic field has two holes on each pole for decades. It's the very reason that causes Aurora Borealis or the northen lights. Here in Northern Europe, which is famous for the display of colorful northern lights, it's actually part of the school curriculum to teach children what physically causes this effect, and even my little brother can tell you that Earth's magnetic field has two huge holes around the poles. The NASA article is about the effects these sun wind particles have on Earth's biosphere.