{"id":281187,"date":"2023-09-30T12:53:35","date_gmt":"2023-09-30T10:53:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=281187"},"modified":"2023-09-30T12:53:38","modified_gmt":"2023-09-30T10:53:38","slug":"van-gogh-waves-in-the-magnetosphere","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=281187","title":{"rendered":"Van Gogh Waves in the\u00a0Magnetosphere"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From Spaceweather.com<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By DR.TONY PHILLIPS<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sept. 27, 2023:\u00a0<\/strong>(Spaceweather.com<\/a>) When Vincent van Gogh painted \u201cThe Starry Night\u201d in 1889, little did he know he was working at the forefront of 21st century astrophysics.\u00a0A paper<\/a>\u00a0recently published in\u00a0Nature Communications<\/em>\u00a0reveals that the same kind of waves pictured in the famous painting can cause geomagnetic storms on Earth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Above:<\/strong>\u00a0Vincent van Gogh\u2019s \u2018Starry Night\u2019, which he painted in 1889:\u00a0<\/em>more<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Physicists call them \u201cKelvin Helmholtz waves.\u201d They ripple into existence when streams of gas flow past each other at different velocities. Van Gogh saw them in high clouds outside the window of his asylum in Saint-R\u00e9my, France. They also form in space where the solar wind flows around Earth\u2019s magnetic field.

\u201cWe have found Kelvin-Helmholtz waves rippling down the flanks of Earth\u2019s magnetosphere,\u201d says Shiva Kavosi of Embry\u2013Riddle Aeronautical University, lead author of the Nature<\/em> paper. \u201cNASA spacecraft are surfing the waves, and directly measuring their properties.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This was first suspected in the 1950s by theoreticians who made mathematical models of solar wind hitting Earth\u2019s magnetic field. However, until recently it was just an idea; there was no proof the waves existed. When Kavosi\u2019s team looked at data collected by NASA\u2019s THEMIS<\/a> and MMS<\/a> spacecraft since 2007, they saw clear evidence of Kelvin Helmholtz instabilities.

\u201cThe waves are huge,\u201d says Kavosi. \u201cThey are 2 to 6 Earth radii in wavelength and as much as 4 Earth radii in amplitude.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"
This computer model shows van Gogh waves moving down the flank of Earth\u2019s magnetosphere. Credit: Shiva Kasovi. [full-sized animation<\/a>]<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Imagine a wave taller than Earth curling over and breaking. That\u2019s exactly what happens. Kelvin-Helmholtz waves naturally break onto Earth\u2019s magnetic field, propelling energetic particles deep into the magnetosphere. This revs up Earth\u2019s radiation belts, triggering geomagnetic storms and auroras.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A key finding of Kavosi\u2019s paper is that the waves prefer equinoxes. They appear 3 times more frequently around the start of spring and fall than summer and winter. Researchers have long known that geomagnetic activity is highest around equinoxes. Kelvin-Helmholtz wave activity could be one reason why.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Our planet\u2019s seasonal dependence of geomagnetic activity has always been a bit of a puzzle. After all, the sun doesn\u2019t know when it\u2019s autumn on Earth. One idea holds that, around the time of the equinoxes, Earth\u2019s magnetic field links to the sun\u2019s because of the tilt of Earth\u2019s magnetic poles. This is called the Russell-McPherron effect<\/a> after the researchers who first described it in 1973. Kavosi\u2019s research shows that Kelvin-Helmholtz waves might be important, too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Northern autumn has just begun, which means Kelvin Helmholtz waves are rippling around our planet, stirring up \u201cStarry Night\u201d auroras. Happy autumn!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

From Spaceweather.com By DR.TONY PHILLIPS Sept. 27, 2023:\u00a0(Spaceweather.com) When Vincent van Gogh painted \u201cThe Starry Night\u201d in 1889, little did he know he was working at the forefront of 21st century astrophysics.\u00a0A paper\u00a0recently published in\u00a0Nature Communications\u00a0reveals that the same kind of waves pictured in the famous painting can cause geomagnetic storms on Earth. Physicists call […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":281192,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691823129,691823126,691823128,691818491,691823127,691823124,691823125],"class_list":["post-281187","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-earths-magnetic-poles","tag-magnetosphere","tag-mms","tag-nasa","tag-themis","tag-van-gogh","tag-waves","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/image-883.png?fit=1600%2C1213&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-1b9h","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":278735,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=278735","url_meta":{"origin":281187,"position":0},"title":"\u201cStealthy CME\u201d Sparks Geomagnetic\u00a0Storm","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/14\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"(Spaceweather.com) An unexpected CME\u00a0hit\u00a0Earth\u2019s magnetic field on Sept. 12th (1237 UT) and sparked a\u00a0G2-class geomagnetic storm. 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