In the new study, scientists decided to study the aurora in more depth. Thanks to this, it was possible to reveal new ways of understanding the physics of the release of explosive energy in space. Lights - a control sign of physical processes in outer space. It is like magnifying glasses, showing what is happening millions of kilometers from Earth, where the magnetic field of our planet is drawn into a long tail turned from the Sun.
For the study, scientists remotely observed rapidly developing auroras to understand physics: why, when, and how the energy is released. The cause is instability, which is difficult to identify. This leads to sub-storms in which charged particles invade the earth's atmosphere on electromagnetic waves, releasing a large energy volume and creating auroras.
The team checked most of the sky and found the perfect sub-storm located over Alaska on September 18, 2012. Using MOOSE camera data, scientists tracked the movement of the aurora to the north pole for 4 minutes. This is a large time interval for studying this type of auroras, which allows you to collect a lot of valuable information. Information is then analyzed, providing important physical clues about how auroras form in space and time. The glow appeared as a line of “beads” along the arc, which grew exponentially in brightness and size. This growing ripple is considered the hallmark of space instability. Comparing the detailed characteristics with the aurora and modern theory, the researchers were able to narrow the area of space where instability is most likely to be present.
The region actually found is incredibly small on a cosmic scale (a small part of the earth’s volume), but this confirms the functionality of the method and will allow the region to be explored in more detail with the help of spacecraft. Until now, scientists have been able to describe auroras and high-energy events on the Sun and other planets of the system, but for the first time it turns out to conduct a real physical analysis. That is, here we are talking about specific physical parameters and laws. The team plans to continue research to accurately identify the epicenter of events in space, and to identify the causes of instability.
