Scientists are discovering ‘Space Hurricane’ High Above the Earth

Scientists have identified a “space hurricane” – a mass of plasma about 620 miles wide in the atmosphere high above the magnetic North Pole.

The hurricane occurred in August 2014, but scientists did not know that it happened until recently, when an international team of researchers noticed the phenomenon while studying satellite observations from that time. The discovery, the first of its kind, was published last month in the journal Nature Communications.

“Until now, space plasma hurricanes have not been confirmed, so it is amazing to prove this,” said Mike Lockwood, a space scientist at the University of Reading UK and co-author of the study. in a statement.

The hurricane, which lasted for about eight hours, would have been visible to the naked eye, but it is very likely that no one saw it because it occurred over such high latitudes, Lockwood said. ri USA Today.

However, a photo from lead research author Qing-He Zhang of Shandong University in China shows what it was like.

Larry Lyons, professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at the University of California, Los Angeles, explained to NBC News why the space-like plasma revolution was more familiar to us.

“You could see plasma currents flowing around, which were like space hurricane winds,” he said. “These streams were stronger at the edge and diminished as you moved towards the eye in the middle, before lifting up again on the other side, just like the airflow in a regular hurricane. ”

And while a hurricane on earth is raining, the hurricane sent electricity into the atmosphere.

Changes in space weather can affect things like GPS signals and satellite communications. Researchers suspect that space hurricanes may be very common, and have simply not been identified – until now.

Zhang told Vice that his team had already found other issues in satellite data “showing the hurricane features of space. ”The published study only describes one, which he described as“ best ”in terms of clarity.