 |
| Scientists Confirm Existence of Earth's Global Electric Field, Fundamental to Atmospheric Escape Image credit: Eos.org |
An international team of scientists has successfully measured a global electric field on Earth, known as the ambipolar electric field. This discovery, made possible by NASA's suborbital rocket from the Endurance mission, has revealed that this electric field is as essential to our planet as its magnetic and gravity fields.
The strength of this electric field, previously only hypothesized, has now been quantified, showing its critical role in shaping the ionosphere and driving atmospheric escape.
Polar Wind: A Mystery Unveiled
Since the late 1960s, spacecraft flying over Earth’s poles have detected streams of particles escaping from our atmosphere into space, a phenomenon theorized as the "polar wind." Despite these particles being cold and lacking signs of heating, they were found to be traveling at supersonic speeds.
This led scientists to suspect the presence of an undiscovered electric field responsible for this phenomenon.
Theoretical Hypothesis Confirmed
More than 60 years ago, scientists hypothesized the existence of the ambipolar electric field, based on the observation of atmospheric escape above Earth's North and South Poles.
They predicted that this electric field, generated at the subatomic scale, would be very weak, with its effects felt only across vast distances. This hypothesis has now been confirmed through the recent measurements obtained by NASA's Endurance mission rocket.
New Insights into Atmospheric Evolution
Understanding Earth's atmosphere and its evolution is crucial as it provides insights into the history of our planet and the potential habitability of other planets. The ambipolar electric field, now confirmed, plays a significant role in this process.
"Any planet with an atmosphere should have an ambipolar field. Now that we've finally measured it, we can begin learning how it's shaped our planet as well as others over time," said Glyn Collinson, the lead author of the study and principal investigator of Endurance at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center.
Measuring the Ambipolar Electric Field
In 2016, Collinson and his team developed a new instrument specifically designed to measure the ambipolar electric field. The successful measurement of this field marks a significant breakthrough in understanding how Earth's atmosphere escapes into space and how similar processes might occur on other planets.
The findings of this groundbreaking research have been published in the journal Nature, offering new perspectives on the dynamics of Earth's atmosphere and the forces that shape it. This research not only enhances our understanding of Earth but also provides valuable insights into the atmospheric behavior of other planets, aiding in the search for potentially habitable worlds.
0 Comments