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The report discusses the THEMIS spacecraft's recent observations of "giant magnetic ropes that connect Earth's upper atmosphere to the Sun and explosions in the outskirts of Earth's magnetic field." Describing the THEMIS encounter with a "magnetic rope" NASA investigator Dave Sibeck states: "It was very large, about as wide as Earth, and located approximately 40,000 miles above Earth's surface in a region called the magnetosphere."
The surprises for investigators began in March, when "a substorm erupted over Alaska and Canada, producing vivid auroras for more than two hours." The report reads: "Right away the substorm surprised investigators: ‘The auroras surged westward twice as fast as anyone thought possible, crossing 15 degrees of longitude in less than one minute,' says Angelopoulos. The storm had traversed an entire polar time zone in 60 seconds flat!
The energy of this two-hour outburst -- five hundred thousand billion Joules -- is roughly the energetic equivalent of a 5.5 magnitude earthquake. In trying to discern "where does all that energy come from?" NASA is left groping for explanations.
Originally posted by NGC2736
reply to post by Terrapop
And I doubt I'll be doing much flying during the solar max.