Atmosphere acts as heat shield for solar storms
Posted: Fri, May 10, 2002, 8:58 AM ET (1258 GMT)
New data from a NASA spacecraft confirm that a region of the Earth's upper atmosphere acts as a heat shield, absorbing energy from solar storms, but in the process generating a cloud of plasma that surrounds the planet. Observations by the Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft show that the upper ionosphere, a region of the atmosphere 300 to 1,000 km above the Earth's surface, absorbs energy from a multimillion-amp electric current generated when energetic particles from solar storms interact with the Earth's magnetosphere. This turns a portion of the gas — a few hundred tons for a typical storm — into a plasma that is distributed around the planet by the magnetosphere. This plasma can disrupt satellites and interfere with GPS signals.
New data from a NASA spacecraft confirm that a region of the Earth's upper atmosphere acts as a heat shield, absorbing energy from solar storms, but in the process generating a cloud of plasma that surrounds the planet. Observations by the Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft show that the upper ionosphere, a region of the atmosphere 300 to 1,000 km above the Earth's surface, absorbs energy from a multimillion-amp electric current generated when energetic particles from solar storms interact with the Earth's magnetosphere. This turns a portion of the gas — a few hundred tons for a typical storm — into a plasma that is distributed around the planet by the magnetosphere. This plasma can disrupt satellites and interfere with GPS signals.
Related Links:
| <<previous article | next article>> |
|
news in brief
|
|
|
|
news links
|
|
Thursday, September 3
The BepiColombo mission begins its arrival at Mercury after nearly 8 years
CNN — 7:23 am ET (1123 GMT) One Year In, U.S. Space Command Headquarters Relocation Moving Expeditiously to 'Rocket City, USA'
US Dept. of Defense — 7:21 am ET (1121 GMT) Blue Origin breaks ground on new Canaveral facility ordered up by Space Force
Orlando Sentinel — 7:21 am ET (1121 GMT) Construction of British deep space radar to begin in 2027
UK Defence Journal — 7:21 am ET (1121 GMT) Blue Origin Beats Rocket Lab, Wins $700 Million Mars Communications Contract
Investor's Business Daily — 7:19 am ET (1119 GMT) |
