Antinuclear

More information about our planet’s invisible radiation protective belt

Be Thankful For the Invisible Belt That Saves Earth From Radiation, Gizmodo, 26 Nov 14
Kelsey Campbell-Dollaghan  A NASA-led study of the Van Allen radiation belts has uncovered new information about the invisible “shield” that keeps harmful ultrarelativistic electrons from the Earth.

In a study published in Nature, scientists from MIT and the University of Colorado at Boulder detail their analysis of data from NASA’s Van Allen Probes, which are studying the radiation belts around Earth—just last year, the probes reported the existence of a new, previously-unknown third belt thousands of miles above the Earth. In short, these craft are sending back vital information about the space around our planet. And in Nature this week, we found out even more.

In the study, we learn about the existence of a hard barrier at the bottom of the outermost belt, about 7,000 miles above Earth, and something called “plasmaspheric hiss.” This layer of electromagnetic waves stop the high-energy electrons zinging around the Earth from actually getting close to it. MIT News explains that the “hiss” in the phenomenon’s name is actually due to the sound the waves make over the radio, and that they keep us safe from otherwise quite dangerous radiation:…….http://gizmodo.com/be-thankful-for-the-invisible-belt-that-saves-earth-fro-1663882527

November 30, 2014 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized