The Earth's Magnetic shield cracked

According to a team from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research's GRAPES-3 data muon telescope in India, the Sun spit out a ginormous mass coronal ejection on June 22 2015 that essentially cracked the Earth's magnetic field. As a result, some cosmic radiation leaked through.

For 2 hours, Earth’s magnetosphere was being bombarded by these particles, which emit immensely high-energy radiation, and travel through space at nearly the speed of light.

These things are so powerful, they can easily penetrate the hull of a spacecraft, and Earth’s magnetic shield is our first line of defense against them.

"This vulnerability can occur when magnetized plasma from the Sun deforms Earth’s magnetic field, stretching its shape at the poles and diminishing its ability to deflect charged particles," Katherine Wright explains on the American Physical Society website.

The results indicate that the magnetosphere had been temporarily cracked, and that’s why things went so haywire in our radio systems.

In fact, the team says the bombardment was so relentless, it caused a severe compression of the magnetosphere, forcing it to shrink from 11 to 4 times the radius of Earth.

"The occurrence of this burst also implies a 2-hour weakening of Earth’s protective magnetic shield during this event," the researchers report.

"[This] indicates a transient weakening of Earth’s magnetic shield, and may hold clues for a better understanding of future superstorms that could cripple modern technological infrastructure on Earth, and endanger the lives of the astronauts in space."

The good news is that the crack was temporary, the cosmic radiation was (mostly) absorbed by particles in the atmosphere, and everything should be fine down here in the troposphere.

Comments

This Woman Has Visited 181 of 196 Countries

Ever wanted to travel to every country in the world? Well that’s exactly what Cassandra De Pecol is doing! Her journey started off in Palau back in July 2015 and she’s already visited 181 countries since then 🇦🇪🐫🇦🇪 "Telling a story is one of the best ways we have of coming up with new ideas, and also of learning about each other and our world." - Richard Branson A photo posted by ᶜᴬˢˢᴬᴺᴰᴿᴬ ᴰᴱ ᴾᴱᶜᴼᴸ (@expedition_196) on Nov 4, 2016 at 11:00am PDT She’s hoping to become the first documented woman to travel to all 196 countries. Cassandra only has 15 more to visit in the next 40 days The trip has cost almost $200,000 so far but the costs are covered by sponsors She also uses her Instagram as a platform for advertising in exchange for free accommodation Been a bit MIA, but I've been out and about enjoying myself in Tripoli, Libya! Also, being held at the border because they thought I was in the CIA 😱. To see wha...

Never-Before-Seen Photos Emerge From Inside White House During 9/11

Thanks to the Freedom of Information Act, never-before-seen photos from inside the White House during the 9/11 attacks have been released. The photos, reportedly captured by a staff photographer, document the reactions of then President, George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney as they watch the horrific incident unfold on live television on September 11, 2001. The majority of the photos were taken in the secure basement of the White House, where Secret Service agents frog-marched top government officials following reports that more attacks were a possibility. In the photos, President Bush looks tense as he converses with top officials in the President’s Emergency Operations Center (PEOC), a highly-secure bunker situated below the East Wing, which can withstand nuclear hits and ‘other devastating attacks’. Other senior government officials also feature in the photographs, including National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice, CIA Director George Tenet, Dick Cheney’s law...

How India Changed My Life: It Is All About Experiences We Have

How India changed my life “In 2004, when I was at one of the lowest points of my life, I decided to go to India. I had never visited India; I’d never even been on a long-term trip. I was emotionally fragile, and at 45, I was at an age when more rational people would be thinking mostly about settling down and playing it safe. But I knew I had to go. I was trying to recover from a deeply entrenched depression brought on by a series of devastating losses, including both my parents, and the only thing that had helped was yoga. Three classes a week eventually turned into teacher training, which lead to a desire – a compulsion almost – to visit the country where yoga was born. It felt like my life depended on it. Though irrational and counter-intuitive, it’s still the best thing I have ever done. But it required some planning. I sold about one-third of my belongings, moved out of my apartment and into a small sublet, temporarily gave my cat to a friend and saved as much money as ...

BIONBIT

Search This Blog