In addition to affecting the oceans, lunar tides also shape oscillations in the plasma around our planet, within the magnetosphere above Earth’s atmosphere.
The plasma sphere around the Earth is affected by tides caused by the moonaccording to a new study published in Physics of nature. The discovery could have implications for space missions and studies of other planets.
well above the earth’s atmospherethere is a donut-shaped plasma ocean formed by charged particles from the solar wind trapped in our ionosphere and by the Sun itself. Earth’s magnetic field.
Known as the plasmasphere, this bubble of electrically charged particles has an outer boundary (plasmapause) located between 20,000 and 38,000 km from the Earth’s center at the magnetic equator. This location varies with the seasons, solar activity, and other factors.
Now, a team of scientists has discovered that the plasmasphere swings in the orbit of the Moon, just like the oceans do. The lunar tides occur thanks to the gravity of our natural satellite, which affects the solid, liquid and gaseous terrestrial matter, but no one had verified if the same also happened with the plasma.
With data from more than 50,000 plasmapause crossings, observed by various scientific instruments, the team found tidal oscillations that show a 3% difference in the ‘smoothness’ of the plasmapause in its ‘normal’ position.
The strangest fact of the discovery is that, unlike the ocean tides, which are highest and lowest near the New Moon and Full Moon, the plasma tides are offset by 90° from the Moon’s position in the sky. In the plasmasphere, high tide occurs in the first quarter of the Moon, while low tide occurs in the last quarter.
There are, as yet, no explanations for this tidal shift of plasma in relation to ocean tides. Scientists think this could mean that these tides are caused not only by gravity, but also by electromagnetic forces.
The findings could help scientists better understand the distribution of energetic particles from radiation belts, ‘which pose a well-known danger to space infrastructure and human activities in space,’ the authors said.
Source: Physics of nature; eos
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