Earth ’s atmosphere is leaking into space at the impressive ( but not serious ) rate of 90 tonnes ( 99 lots ) per mean solar day . The outflow has been investigated by theESA ’s Cluster fleetfor over 15 class , but many unknowns still stay .
Cluster has observe how the solar wind interacts with Earth ’s magnetic discipline , and find that there was a uninterrupted malarky of cold blood plasma escaping our atmosphere at about 1 kilo ( 2.2 pound ) per second . But how the plasma ends up in the magnetosphere is not at all clear .
“ There are a few different aspects to this , ” order Philippe Escoubet , ESA ’s Project Scientist for the Cluster delegation , in astatement .
“ We need to know the cognitive process involve in enrapture it there , how these physical process depend on the dynamic solar wind and the conditions of the magnetosphere , and where plasma is amount from in the first place – does it originate in the ionosphere , the plasmasphere , or somewhere else ? ”
Although the magnetosphere protect us from the charged atom in the solar winds , it is not without weakly blot . At the poles the field of study bloodline are subject ( just like a bar attractive feature ) and proton and electron from the Sun can penetrate and interact with the air , forming the northerly and southerly illumination .
The process is not a one - way street . institutionalize atom from Earth ’s atmosphere can also fly the coop the atmosphere in the same locations . Since the 1990s scientists have known of sporadic pillar of plasma , know as plumes , reaching the edges of the magnetosphere . But thanks to Cluster , space scientists have affirm that the there is a unvarying natural spring .
The latest analysis paint a picture a elusive fundamental interaction between our major planet ’s magnetosphere and the interplanetary charismatic battleground ( IMF ) . The IMF preference bet on the gyration of the Sun , and scientists have see that plumes are take shape when the two fields are opposite while leaking fountain happen when the IMF and the Earth ’s magnetic field point in the same direction .
" While there is still much to hear , we ’ve been able-bodied to make great forward motion here , " say Arnaud Masson , ESA ’s Deputy Project Scientist for the Cluster delegacy .
" These recent studies have wangle to successfully link together multiple phenomena to paint a better picture of Earth ’s magnetised surroundings . This research required several class of ongoing observation , something we could only get with Cluster . "
Understanding our own atmospheric state and how it interacts with the solar wind will facilitate us understand well the other objects in the Solar System , as well as suggesting what to look for in our search for a habitable exoplanet .
