4 ms·

Wow. > About 15 minutes before the disturbance in Norway, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth abruptly swung around 180 degrees, and the solar w

Wow. > About 15 minutes before the disturbance in Norway, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth abruptly swung around 180 degrees, and the solar wind density jumped more than 5-fold. Earth may have crossed through a fold in the heliospheric current sheet--a giant, wavy membrane of electrical current rippling through the solar system. Such crossings can cause these kind of effects.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
stingraycharles 7y ago
Care to ELI5 why this is so special? It sounds impressive but I have no idea what an IMF, heliospheric current or a membrane of electrical current are.
- dnadler 7y ago
  It's been a while, but I did take an astrophysics class that got into the solar system's electromagnetic dynamics. As I recall, the sun is constantly shedding ionized material known as solar wind. This plasma carries the magnetic field from the sun with it. From "above", the magnetic field looks like a giant spiral with the sun at the center. It sounds like the earth may have moved through a particularly dense spot of the solar wind which interacted strongly with the Earths magnetic field. This would probably also cause unusually strong auroras. That's about the extent of my knowledge (plus I'm on my phone and it's a bit difficult to get into a lot of detail). I'm sure someone else around here can correct me and/or give more insight.
brylie 7y ago
Would this type of event potentially affect human behavior, such as sleep patterns? I am genuinely curious because, anecdotally, my son and I had a difficult night sleeping and a friend said she and her son also had difficulty sleeping that night.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- ncmncm 7y ago
  Hey, I did too! Took a sick day yesterday. And, today I learned of the existence of the heliospheric current sheet! http://wso.stanford.edu/gifs/HCS.html http://wso.stanford.edu/gifs/HCS.html Last I heard, astronomers didn't permit current flow in space. Or, anyway, talking about it.
  - deleted 7y ago
    [deleted]

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]

stingraycharles 7y ago

Care to ELI5 why this is so special? It sounds impressive but I have no idea what an IMF, heliospheric current or a membrane of electrical current are.

dnadler 7y ago
It's been a while, but I did take an astrophysics class that got into the solar system's electromagnetic dynamics. As I recall, the sun is constantly shedding ionized material known as solar wind. This plasma carries the magnetic field from the sun with it. From "above", the magnetic field looks like a giant spiral with the sun at the center. It sounds like the earth may have moved through a particularly dense spot of the solar wind which interacted strongly with the Earths magnetic field. This would probably also cause unusually strong auroras. That's about the extent of my knowledge (plus I'm on my phone and it's a bit difficult to get into a lot of detail). I'm sure someone else around here can correct me and/or give more insight.

brylie 7y ago

Would this type of event potentially affect human behavior, such as sleep patterns? I am genuinely curious because, anecdotally, my son and I had a difficult night sleeping and a friend said she and her son also had difficulty sleeping that night.

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
ncmncm 7y ago
Hey, I did too! Took a sick day yesterday. And, today I learned of the existence of the heliospheric current sheet! http://wso.stanford.edu/gifs/HCS.html http://wso.stanford.edu/gifs/HCS.html Last I heard, astronomers didn't permit current flow in space. Or, anyway, talking about it.
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]