First Space Hurricane Discovered : Science Loop

This is pretty interesting - the first-ever (first ever that was observed by humans) 'space hurricane' was detected over the North Pole. For the first time, astronomers have detected a powerful, 600-mile-wide (1,000 kilometers) hurricane of plasma in Earth's upper atmosphere - a phenomenon they're calling a "space hurricane." The space hurricane certainly raged for nearly 8 hours on Aug. 20, 2014. This fascinating phenomenon behaved similarly to the wind-based hurricanes we find on Earth, but this space version rained electrons instead of water. It seems that any planet with plasma and a magnetic field could have these 'violent' space storms, researchers said.

The hurricane seems to be formed from a tangled mess of magnetic field lines and fast-flying solar wind. The hurricane was invisible to the naked eye. However, 4 weather satellites that passed over the North Pole detected a formation not unlike a typical terrestrial hurricane. The intense space hurricane was shaped like a funnel with a quiet "eye" at the center. It was surrounded by several counterclockwise-spinning spiral arms of plasma (ionized gas found all over the solar system, including in Earth's atmosphere).

Usually, the "eye of the storm" is a region of mostly calm weather at the center of tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically 30-65 kilometers in diameter. It is surrounded by the eyewall, a ring of towering massive thunderstorms where the most severe weather and highest winds certainly occur.

Until this important space discovery, it was uncertain if space plasma hurricanes existed. The existence was proved with this striking observation. These space hurricanes must be created by unusually large and fast transfer of solar wind energy and charged particles into the Earth's upper atmosphere.

Plasma and magnetic fields in the atmosphere of planets certainly exist throughout the universe, so the findings suggest space hurricanes should be a widespread phenomena.

This science phenomenon was discovered by a team of researchers from Shandong University in China. They had observed the storm over the Arctic region on 20 August 2014, before identifying its nature in 2021. The research team also consisted of scientists from the United States, the United Kingdom, and Norway. The team observed the space hurricane for 8 hours, before it gradually broke down. The storm was observed during a certain period of low solar and geomagnetic activity.