No, there is no confirmed evidence regarding the non-specific lights that have been observed by airline pilots in recent days in southern Brazil, but the area is drawing scientific attention to a growing cavity in the Earth’s magnetic field that can cause a major headache for satellites. .
This problematic region is located on the South Atlantic Ocean and part of southern Brazil in what is called SAMA, or South Atlantic Magnetic Anomaly. NASA, the North American space agency, is constantly monitoring the area. Read and understand the text.
What is the Earth’s magnetic field?
Our blue planet’s magnetic field works like sunscreen does on our skin. It protects the planet by expelling and trapping charged particles from the sun. It turns out that over South America and the South Atlantic, an unusual weak spot in this area – called the South Atlantic anomaly – allows these particles to dive much closer to Earth’s surface than usual.
In fact, particle radiation in this region can disrupt onboard computers and interfere with data collection from transiting satellites. This is one of the main reasons why NASA scientists want to track and study the anomaly.
The South Atlantic anomaly is also important to NASA Earth scientists who monitor changes in magnetic field strength and how they affect Earth’s atmosphere and as an indicator of what’s happening in the planet’s deep Earth magnetic fields.
At the moment, the anomaly does not make any visible effect on daily life on the surface. However, in reality, recent observations and forecasts show that the region is expanding westward and continuing to weaken in intensity. It also splits with recent data showing that the so-called “anomaly valley,” or region with minimal field strength, has split into two sectors, creating additional challenges for satellite missions.
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Magnetic activity is studied
First, a number of NASA scientists in geomagnetism, geophysics, and heliophysics research groups monitor and model anomalies. The intent is to monitor and predict future changes, as well as help prepare for future challenges to satellites and humans around the world.
The South Atlantic anomaly results from two features of the Earth’s core. The tilt of its magnetic axis and the flow of molten metals in its outer core. The Earth, in fact, is somewhat similar to a magnet, with the north and south poles representing opposite magnetic poles and invisible magnetic field lines circling the planet between them.
Secondly, unlike magnets, the core’s magnetic field is not perfectly aligned with the globe, and it is also quite unstable. That’s because the field originates in the Earth’s outer core: molten and rich in iron and moving with force 3,000 kilometers below the surface.
These bubbling minerals circulating deep in the Earth act as a massive generator called a geodynamo, creating electric currents that produce the magnetic field. Specifically: these dynamic processes in the core affect the magnetic field around the planet. They end up generating anomalies and other features in the near-earth environment. However, they include the tilt and drift of the magnetic poles, which change over time.
In conclusion, these field developments, which occur on a time scale similar to the convection of minerals in the outer core, are in fact providing scientists with new clues. To help them uncover the fundamental dynamics that drive the geodynamo.
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