The great solar storm of May 2024, which caused beautiful auroral screens in much of the world, also created two new radiation belts that were observed with a satellite that returned from the dead.
“This is really impressive,” said Xinlin Li, a professor at the Atmospheric and Space Physics Laboratory at Colorado University, Boulder, in a statement. “When we compare the data before and after The stormI said: ‘wow, this is something really new.’ “
May 2024 I saw a series of powerful storms erupting our sunthrowing clouds of particles loaded in space and culminating in a dramatic exhibition of aurora borealis (Northern Lights) and Aurora Australis (South Lights): the result of the most powerful geomagnetic storm experienced in Land from March 1989.
And the Nasa’s internal radiation belt satellite (Cirbe) had fallen asleep. Designed to study the Earth Van Allen’s radiation beltsCirbe was launched in April 2023, but was silent in mid -April 2024 as a result of a technical problem on board. He woke up in June, and when he arrived, something had changed: two new radiation belts had appeared!
Van Allen’s radiation belts contain charged particles in place by our Earth’s magnetic field. There are two permanent belts, but the appearance of a new temporary radiation belt between the two permanent belts after a solar storm is not unusual: such short -term belts were first detected in 2013. What Cirbe found unusual on these two New belts after the May 2024 event was its composition and life.
Usually the temporary belts that are formed after a Solar storm They are composed of high energy electrons. One of the new belts found by Cirbe fits this pattern. However, the other belt contained high energy substantial abundance protonsAlso (protons are also found on permanent radiation straps). It is believed that its presence in the new belt is the product of the intensity of the solar storms of May 2024.
Temporary radiation belts also usually last in most four weeks before dissipating, but the new belts found by Cirbe had a much longer useful life: the belt dominated by electrons survived for three months after the solar storm, while that the belt dominated by the proton is still believed that it is still wrapped around the earth even now.
“These are really electrons and high -energy protons that have found their way in the internal magnetic environment of the Earth,” said David Sibeck of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. “Some could remain in this place for a long time.”
While solar storms can create new radiation belts like this, solar storms can also destroy them. A modestly powerful storm in June 2024 reduced the belt dominated by electrons, and another storm in August 2024 almost eliminated it completely. The belt rich in protons remains because it is in a more stable region where its protons are less vulnerable to being expelled from the orbit.
The existence of these temporary straps contain spaceship through the spacecraft through the Van Allen Correa spacecraft to reach the geostationary orbit (which is located at an altitude of 22,236 miles, or 35,785 kilometers) or more. The loaded particles contained within the belts can damage the electrical components in satellites and spacecraft, while providing an additional danger of radiation for astronauts if they ever return to the moon or venture into Mars. To guarantee the greatest safety at the launch, some future missions, particularly those that carry a crew, may need to modify their launch plans or transport an additional shield after the solar storms.
As for Cirbe, fate was nothing more than ironic. While the effects of the solar storm of May 2024 gave the Cubesat One last shot in Glory also spelled his fatality. The storm injected a substantial amount of energy at the top of the earth atmosphereinflating the thermosfera and increasing atmospheric drag in the satellite. This slowed its orbit, which caused it to fall to increasingly low altitudes. Finally, he existed and burned in October.
The discovery of the two new radiation belts was published on February 6 in the Geophysics Research Magazine: Space Physics.
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