Earth is protected by the constant flow of charged particles from solar wind. The magnetosphere is a shield of magnetism that surrounds our planet. It was created from the deepest parts of the planet's interior.
Scientists assumed that as the sun's energy blows, the edges of the bubble would ripple in a series if energy waves in plasma. These energy waves are generated by the interaction of the magnetosphere and solar wind. They've now discovered that some of these waves are still being generated.
Martin Archer, a space physicist from Imperial College London, has been studying the boundary of Earth's magneticosphere for many years.
He says, "Understanding the boundaries in any system is key problem." "That's how stuff enters: energy, momentum and matter.
Archer and his collaborators discovered recently that the magnetopause boundary, also known as the magnetopause behaves like a membrane of a drum. They strike it with a pulse of the solar wind and magnetosonic waves propagate along the magnetopause toward the poles and reflect back to the source.
Archer and a team of researchers have now discovered that these magnetosonic waves can bounce back using data from NASA's Time History of Events during Substorms mission (THEMIS).
What happens to these waves when they encounter the opposing wind. The researchers have done modelling that shows the forces could reach an impasse with the push from the solar wind cancelling the push from the wave. Although a lot of energy is being used, nothing is moving anywhere.
Archer says, "It's very similar to the effect of trying to walk up a downs escalator." It will appear that you aren't moving, even though your exerting a lot of effort.
These standing waves can have a greater effect on particle acceleration because they are more persistent in Earth's magnetic field. Plasma waves can accelerate electrons. This is what we know.
The aurora, which lightens up the sky and causes communications problems in the Ionosphere, is caused by particles that accelerate along the magnetic fields towards the poles.
The Earth's radiation belts could be also affected by the magnetosphere. To understand the effects of standing waves on particle acceleration, more research is needed.
The researchers also converted the standing waves to sound. Archer and his collaborators have done this before. They translated the sound of the magnetopause’s drum-like responses towards the solar wind.
This is not just an amazing thing to do; scientists can use space data to reveal information that may have been lost.
While we can see the whole thing in a simulation, satellites cannot measure these waves and give us only time-series lines. Archer says that this type of data is more suited for our hearing than our sight. Therefore, listening to the data can give us an intuitive understanding of what's happening.
"You can still hear the deep breathing sound from the surface waves, which continues throughout the day, increasing in volume with each pulse. Higher pitched sounds that are associated with other types waves don't last as long.
Nature Communications published the research.
