Why the Earth's atmosphere flies into space: NASA rocket first found an unknown phenomenon

The results of the study are published in Nature, Sky at night Magazine writes. In focus. Technology has appeared its Telegram channel. Subscribe not to miss the latest and most intrusive news from the world of science! Back in the 60's of the last century, spacecraft that fly over the poles of the Earth found that particles from the planet's atmosphere quickly fly into space. Scientists called this phenomenon by polar wind and tried to explain the mechanism of its creation.

It is known that some particles from the atmosphere fly into space, as sunlight heats these particles and makes it fly. But observations of the polar wind showed that many particles in it are cold, but nevertheless, they quickly fly into space. Scientists have suggested that there should be an unknown electric field.

Scientists have suggested that this electric field should start at an altitude of about 250 km, since it is there that atoms in the atmosphere break down into negatively charged electrons and positively charged ions. A few years ago, NASA scientists began to create a device that could detect an ambipolar electric field.

Researchers have installed this device on a special rocket called Endurance, which was launched into the atmosphere from Svalbard Island a few hundred kilometers from the North Pole. The rocket flew through the polar wind and made the necessary measurements. The NASA rocket reached a height of 768 km and after 19 minutes of flight was driven in the Greenland Sea. Data on the polar wind were collected at a height of 518 km, and scientists found a change in electric potential by 0. 55 volts.

Although this is not a big change, it helped to explain the polar wind. According to scientists, the most common type of particles in the polar wind, hydrogen ions, are exposed to the force derived from an electric field, which is 10. 6 times stronger than the gravity of the Earth. That is, this is enough for the particles of the atmosphere to overcome the gravity of our planet and flew into space at supersonic speed.

Scientists believe that the ambipolar electric field is as fundamental to our planet as a gravitational and magnetic field. And with the other two fields, it could continuously form the Earth's atmosphere with the help of unknown mechanisms. But now these mechanisms can be detected, scientists believe. The authors of the study also believe that any planet where the atmosphere should have an ambipolar electric field. In particular, this field can be in Mars and Venus.