The muon telescope known as GRAPES registered a crack of the magnetic shield of our planet. The telescope is situated at TIFR’s Cosmic Ray Laboratory in Ooty. The burst of rays was enrolled to appear on June 22 and measured approximately 20 GeV. The phenomenon happened due to a mass of plasma which was spurted from the solar corona.
- Scientists revealed a crack in the Earth’s magnetic shield.
- GRAPES-3 telescope helped them detect the cause to fix try to fix it.
This moved at a speed of 2.5million kilometers per hour, hitting Terra. The results were devastating. It caused a critical compression of the magnetosphere up to four times the radius of our planet. The phenomenon triggered a geomagnetic storm powerful enough to produce aurora borealis. Other effects registered were the radio blackouts that affected so many countries located at high latitude.
The radius of our planet’s magnetosphere extends up to a million kilometers, performing acts of defense meant to protect us from cosmic rays and solar flows. Due to these features of auto-protection which were developed, life on this planet is safe, being kept at a great distance from the increased intensity of energetic radiations.
The simulations which were generated with the help of the GRAPES-3 suggested that the magnetic shield of the Earth is temporarily damaged. The factor which determined this remarkable phenomenon is the magnetic reconnection.
This event made possible the incursion of the particles of lower intensity from the galactic cosmic rays into our atmosphere. These particles were bent at approximately 180 degrees by the force of the magnetic field around our planet. This process of deterioration of the particles had started when the telescope discovered the crack in the magnetic shield and started a combat against the cosmic rays.
The team of engineers and physicists at the Cosmic Ray Laboratory in Ooty have examined and interpreted the data offered by the GRAPES-3 telescope, using extensive simulation. This was based on the development of a 1280-core computing station which was built inside, during the research. The study which was conducted by such a knowledgeable team of scientists was recently published in the Physical Review Letters magazine.
There can appear significant turmoil in the human civilization when massive electrical power grids are damaged, being generated by solar storms. Other causes contributing to the civilization’s disruption are creating deficiencies in satellite operations and communications, but also in global positioning systems.
Image courtesy of: wikipedia
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