Giant Space Storm Discovered Above Earth, And It’s Bad News

0:00Somebody asked me how I'd define myself. And I didn't know what to say. Because how can someone be defined when we're always evolving? I've been so many things. I'll be so many others. Because identity is not a performance. It's an exploration. Never the same. But always myself. That's the paradox. Paradox intense and the new sweet chemistry by Prada. Imagine a giant immensely powerful storm rotating over your head. You'd be terrified if you could see it. But this storm is invisible to the unated eye. It isn't your regular hurricane. This intense phenomenon happens in space. Space hurricanes are giants swirling storms that form not in our oceans, but up in the ionosphere. It's part of Earth's upper atmosphere charged with energy from the sun. Space storms look a lot like traditional hurricanes,

1:00except they're made up of plasma, supercharged gases, and instead of raining water, they rain electrons. These massive rotating hurricanes appear over Earth's polar regions. Now, think of a space hurricane as a giant funnel or a whirlpool of energy spiraling over the polar regions. It's only visible from high altitudes or by satellites. Space hurricanes also produce cyclone-like auroras. Such colorful light shows look similar to good old auroras. But there's a big twist. Space auroras usually spin near the North Pole for several hours, raining charge particles into the upper atmosphere. Hurricanes on Earth are born from warm ocean water and low pressure areas. They're fueled by Earth's rotation and heat energy from the ocean. Some people asked me how I'd define myself. And I didn't know what to say, because how can someone be defined when we're always evolving?

2:00I've been so many things. I'll be so many others. Because identity is not a performance. It's an exploration. Never the same, but always myself. That's the paradox. Paradox Intense and the New Suite Chemistry by Prada. Parenting unlocks some pretty impressive skills, like carrying grocery bags, a soccer ball, and a sleepy kid all at once. Good thing the newly designed Chrysler Pacifica has a few tricks of its own. Hands-free power-sliding doors and lift gate, rear seat entertainment, and stone-go seating and storage that adapts faster than your family's weekend plans. Visit Chrysler.com to learn more. Chrysler is a registered trademark of FCAUS LLC. Space hurricanes, on the other hand, are created by a different process altogether. They're influenced by magnetic fields instead of Earth's water. When the solar wind, a steady flow of charged particles coming from the sun,

3:04comes into contact with Earth's magnetic field in just the right way. It creates a kind of swirling vortex of energy. High up in the ionosphere. It starts spinning, which, like how a regular hurricane spins in the atmosphere. Now, let's go all the way back to 2014. That was the first time researchers spotted a massive space storm over the Arctic using satellite data. That hurricane was huge, but at that time, they didn't know exactly what it was. What they did know was that its base stretched over 600 miles in diameter, and it had multiple spiral arms that looked just like the arms of a traditional hurricane. The storm also had a calm eye in the center. There, the plasma was still compared to the fast-rotating outer regions. Some parts of this storm spun its speeds up to 4,700 miles per hour. It's an incredible speed compared to Earth's hurricanes. The team observed the phenomenon for eight hours. After that, it gradually broke down.

4:06Scientists managed to identify this storm as a space hurricane only in 2021, using observations that had been made several years before. Space hurricanes have several distinct features. First, its cyclone shaped, massive, right arroir that can last for hours. Then, there's the eye of the storm, a calm, stable center of the hurricane. A space hurricane also creates a circular magnetic field with strong disturbances around it. Plus, scientists mentioned electron rains in the ionosphere. These rains are what causes those bright, colorful arroiras right below the storm. But, how do space hurricanes form? To understand this process, we need to first talk about regular arroiras, like the Northern Lights. The sun emits a stream of charged particles, also known as the solar wind, non-stop. And sometimes, this wind brings massive bursts of energy towards Earth. Luckily, Earth has a magnetic field that acts like a shield, protecting us from most of this high energy solar radiation.

5:12But, when solar winds are too strong, they can get into the upper atmosphere, especially near the poles. When these particles from the sun hit Earth's magnetic field, they release energy that lights up the sky in the form of arroiras. Now, in a typical Aurora, electrons from the solar wind excite nitrogen and oxygen molecules in the atmosphere, which then emit light leading to colorful shows in the sky. Space hurricanes are similar, but they happen at higher latitudes, above the region where arroiras usually appear. They create a swirling cyclone-like effect that looks quite different. Scientists are still studying the exact conditions necessary for a space hurricane to occur. But they already know that, surprisingly, such storms happen during very calm space weather. This is the opposite of traditional geomagnetic storms, which need intense solar activity. Space hurricanes need just the right balance of low solar wind and northward pointing magnetic fields.

6:14And even though these storms are uncommon, they aren't impossible, hence those unique swirling storms above the poles. When scientists observe the space... Somebody asked me how I'd define myself. And I didn't know what to say. Because how can someone be defined when we're always evolving? I've been so many things. I'll be so many others. Because identity's not a performance. It's an exploration. Never the same. But always myself. That's the paradox. Paradox Intents and the New Suite Chemistry by Prada. Parenting unlocks some pretty impressive skills, like carrying grocery bags, a soccer ball, and a sleepy kid all at once. Good thing the newly designed Chrysler Pacifica has a few tricks of its own. Hands-free power-sliding doors and lift gate, rear seat entertainment, and still-en-go seating and storage that adapts faster than your family's weekend plans.

7:17Visit Chrysler.com to learn more. Chrysler is a registered trademark of FCAUS LLC. Face Hurricane over the North Pole. They notice some shocking similarities to hurricanes on Earth. Just like the typical hurricane, a space hurricane has a central area where the plasma is calm. Even more curiously, the plasma in space hurricanes spins in a counterclockwise direction, which is like hurricanes raging in the northern hemisphere. The space hurricane also has multiple spiral arms, just like the ones you can see in satellite images of Earth hurricanes. Plus, the space hurricane doesn't need the strong solar winds that typically create disturbances in our atmosphere. No, it forms in periods of calm. Just like how an Earth hurricane can only form if the winds in the atmosphere aren't too disruptive. Now, space hurricanes may be high above us, but they can still affect our daily lives. Especially in areas related to satellite communications and space navigation.

8:20Those electron rains caused by the storm interfere with radio signals that travel through the upper atmosphere. It can disrupt GPS systems, radio communications, and radar systems. What's even worse, this interference can impact the orbits of space debris or space junk, which is already a problem for spacecraft and satellites in low-Earth orbit. The storm's electron rain slightly heats up the atmosphere, which leads to extra drag on satellites and can potentially change their orbits. At the same time, the effects space hurricanes have on Earth aren't as direct and disastrous as those of hurricanes down here. They really don't pose any serious health risks to astronauts or damaged satellites. A researchers say that studying such storms can help improve predictions for satellite operations, especially for flights that cross polar regions. Now, interestingly, scientists didn't set out to find space hurricanes when they spotted one. The discovery was a total accident.

9:23It happened when Larry Lyons, a space physicist from UCLA and his team, were looking through satellite data for another study. In this study, they noticed unusually strong plasma flows in the polar cap. The region at Earth's poles where auroras usually don't appear. When they looked more closely, they saw that this plasma wasn't just flowing. It was swirling, creating a circular pattern with a bright auroral spot in the middle. The researchers were intrigued. They analyzed over 300 different space hurricane events that happened over a span of 11 years. These storms appeared most often in the afternoon during summer months. It made the scientists believe there might be certain times and conditions that could encourage their formation. Luckily, with new research tools and techniques, scientists have been able to identify space hurricanes with greater precision. And recently, they have spotted parallel storms happening near the South Pole as well.

10:24The most exciting thing about this research is that it might help us better understand Earth's space neighborhood and the way solar energy affects it. Scientists like Lyons believe that space hurricanes may not actually be a new phenomenon. They may have been occurring for a long time, but no one noticed them. Space plasma physicists point out that space hurricanes resemble a phenomenon people observed earlier. It's called high latitude, dayside auroras. At the same time, space hurricanes are much brighter and they have stronger circular flows, which give them those hurricane-like arms. Understanding space hurricanes could eventually help scientists predict them. It would be useful for planning space missions and making satellites more reliable. Plus, by looking at these storms, researchers hope to create a more complete picture of how auroras behave at higher latitudes. And even though space hurricanes may seem purely like scientific curiosity, they can give us important clues about how Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere interact with the solar wind.

11:31And who knows? This understanding might even help us spot similar storms on other planets with magnetic fields. It could offer clues about magnetic storms beyond Earth. This episode is brought to you by State Farm. No two football players are exactly alike, and the same is true off the field. That's why State Farm gifts to know you so they can help personalized coverage for your life and budget. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there. Whenever fall comes back around, it always feels like a fresh start. This year, I've been layering in some styles from the new Lou Le Mans fall drop, because the weather is shifting and I find I have to be ready for the entire day and not just one part of it. Lou Le Mans fall line has some really versatile transitional pieces, so I can just wake up, throw on a matching set, add a jacket or a fleece, and head out, knowing that I'll feel comfortable enough to go wherever the day takes me. Check out the new fall arrivals in store and online now at loulelamon.com