There's an eye in the sky — a hurricane eye, that is. High above the North Pole, a cyclone of charged particles can form and cause turbulence in the Earth's geomagnetic field. These storms lead to beautiful lights in the sky, but they can also affect infrastructure in Earth's orbit, as well as navigation systems. And space hurricanes occur more often than previously thought.
Particle pinwheels
Space hurricanes are similar to their terrestrial counterparts, but instead of heavy rains and wind, "electromagnetic tempests are made of plasma, charged particles whipped into motion by Earth's magnetic field," said Space.com. They are "created by an unusually large and rapid transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles into the Earth's upper atmosphere," said IFL Science. This causes vibrant auroras in the sky.
The phenomenon was observed above the North Pole in 2014, when satellites found an auroral spot over 620 miles in diameter that "appeared to look like a cyclone, with multiple spiral arms moving in an anti-clockwise rotation," said Newsweek. This prompted scientists to research space hurricanes more thoroughly. A recent study published in the journal Space Weather elaborated on the effects of space hurricanes on Earth.
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Space hurricanes are different from other geomagnetic storms because they are capable of forming in calm conditions. "Most geomagnetic storms and subsequent impressive aurora displays occur when the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) aligns southward, essentially 'opening the door' in Earth's magnetic field," said Space.com. However, space hurricanes form when the IMF aligns northward. This makes them harder to detect in the atmosphere. The northward configuration is "traditionally viewed as quiet and uneventful," said Chron. "This finding calls into question standard forecasting models, which focus on southward-tilting IMF as a storm driver."
Directional destruction
A space hurricane "appears to strengthen the localized current system, causing intense local geomagnetic disturbances," said researcher Zan-Yang Xing, who worked on the study, to Newsweek. "These findings help clarify their space weather impacts on near-Earth space environments." While space hurricanes do not affect the safety of humans the way earthly hurricanes do, they can have an effect on space weather. This includes the disruption of satellites and space junk in Earth's orbit. But the most significant effect is on navigation.
The study "revealed that space hurricanes can trigger significant ionospheric irregularities," Xing said, which can impact GPS signals. The signals "passing through the storm's outer regions were affected by phase scintillation, a kind of 'twinkling' that occurs when plasma turbulence interferes with radio signals," said Space.com. This may lead to reduced accuracy and reliability of navigation systems.
There is still more research to be done on the effects of space hurricanes. The study's researchers "plan to perform event-specific and statistical analyses of a larger number of events from the space hurricane database," said the study. The aim is to "quantitatively assess their impacts on the polar ionospheric environment." There are likely a lot more storms to examine, too. Other studies have "revealed that these storms are not only more frequent than previously thought, but also occur in both hemispheres — typically during the summer months and possibly up to 10 times a year," said Live Science.
