A research team from Kyoto University and Kyushu University announced that a new satellite observation of the Earth's magnetosphere found that the charge distribution in the magnetosphere is contrary to traditional theory. This achievement is of great significance to understanding the electromagnetic environment in space. The Earth's magnetosphere is the region of space affected by the Earth's magnetic field, which protects the Earth from high-energy particles such as the solar wind. Scientists have always believed that the magnetosphere in the morning direction has a positive charge and that in the evening direction it has a negative charge. However, the latest satellite data reveals the opposite: the morning direction is actually negatively charged and the evening direction is positively charged.
To further explore the reason, the research team conducted large-scale magnetohydrodynamic simulations. They constructed a model of solar wind flowing into the Earth's magnetosphere at high speed, and the results were consistent with observations - a negative charge distribution in the morning direction and a positive charge distribution in the evening direction. It is worth noting that the polar regions are consistent with traditional theory, but there is a large-scale polarity reversal near the equator.
The author of the paper, Yusuke Ebihara of Kyoto University, Japan, said: "In previous theories, the charge polarity above the equatorial plane and the polar region should be consistent, but now we see completely opposite distributions in these regions. This phenomenon is actually related to the motion of the plasma."
The explanation pointed out that the magnetic energy from the sun enters the magnetosphere and circulates clockwise on the dusk side and flows to the polar regions. The earth's magnetic field itself points upward in the equatorial plane and downward in the polar regions, causing the plasma movement in these areas to be opposite to the direction of the magnetic field, resulting in a reversal of charge distribution.
These findings provide a new perspective for studying the change mechanism of space environment and understanding the space environment of magnetized planets such as Earth, Jupiter and Saturn. The team believes that the plasma circulation in the magnetosphere not only drives a variety of space phenomena, but also indirectly affects changes in the high-energy particle region-the radiation belt.
Compiled from /ScitechDaily