Zebra-Striped Structure Discovered In Van Allen Radiation Belts
A strange zebra-stripe pattern has reportedly been discovered in Earth’s Van Allen belts.
A new study, published in the journal Nature, reveals that the unexpected findings of a swirling zebra-like pattern found will change scientific understanding of the belts and how they relate to our planet.
The radiation belts are made up of ions and electrons held in place by Earth’s magnetic field. This new information replaces the previous view that the belts were caused by geomagnetic storms from the Sun.
A NASAgovVideo describes: "Van Allen Probes See Zebra Stripes "
As material moves through Earth’s radiation belts, it can fold over on itself like taffy, creating zebra stripes of electrons with different energies.
Private enterprise has plans to get humans to Mars in the near future. Will what we discover about the Van Allen belts change how we leave our planet and conduct space travel?
Because we still are learning about the Van Allen belts and their relationship to our planet and solar system, perhaps we shouldn’t be too hasty in zapping them out of existence with our death rays:
The plan to wipe out Earth’s Van Allen belts with radio wave technology
More from RedOrbit on the new discovery...
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New Zebra-Striped Structure Discovered In Van Allen Radiation Belt
From: RedOrbit
[...]In the paper, lead author Aleksandr Ukhorskiy of the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) and his colleagues explain that the Van Allen Probes Ion Composition Experiment (RBSPICE) located the persistent structure, which was comprised of highly energized electrons that could endanger humans in space.
In addition, the zebra-striped formation could also disrupt low-earth navigation and communication satellites, officials from the US space agency explained. The structure was produced by the planet’s slow rotation, which experts had previously believed was unable to impact the motion of high-speed radiation belt particles.
“It is because of the unprecedented resolution of our energetic particle experiment, RBSPICE, that we now understand that the inner belt electrons are, in fact, always organized in zebra patterns,” said Ukhorskiy. “Furthermore, our modeling clearly identifies Earth’s rotation as the mechanism creating these patterns. It is truly humbling, as a theoretician, to see how quickly new data can change our understanding of physical properties.”
The tilt in Earth’s magnetic field axis causes its rotation to generate a weak, oscillating electric field permeating throughout the entire inner radiation belt, Ukhorskiy explained. He compared the electron populations of the inner belt to a viscous fluid, and said that the global operations would slowly stretch and fold like taffy, resulting in the striped pattern that extends from above the atmosphere to approximately 8,000 miles above the Earth’s surface.
According to NASA officials, the Van Allen radiation belts “are dynamic doughnut-shaped regions” that surround our planet high above the atmosphere. They are comprised of high-energy electrons and ions that are trapped by the Earth’s magnetic field, and solar activity affects the radiation levels throughout the belts.
Read more at http://www.redorbit.com/news/space/1113099805/zebra-stripes-in-van-allen-radiation-belt-032014/#vRFTJpsxyHqvZZ3d.99
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Read the full article at: redorbit.com
Space Shuttle and Space Station astronauts inside their crafts receive about 2 mRems of additional dosage each time they pass through the SAA. In one day they can accumulate 30 mRem of dosage. Over the course of a week, this adds up to 7 x 30 = 210 mRems which is just below the dosage you get at ground-level in a single year (about 350mRem).
Apollo astronauts, however, were forced to traverse the most intense regions of the Belts in their journey to the Moon. Fortunately, the travel time was only about 30 minutes so their actual radiation exposures inside the Apollo space capsule were not much more than the total dose received by Space Shuttle astronauts.
This fact counters some popular speculations that the moon landings were a hoax because astronauts would have instantly died as they made the travel through the belts. In reality, they may have experienced minor radiation poisoning if they had been in their spacesuits on a spacewalk, but no spacewalk was ever scheduled for these very reasons. The shielding provided by the Apollo space capsule walls was more than enough to shield the astronauts from all but the most energetic, and rare, particles.
Still, the astronauts reported seeing ’shooting stars’. These were caused by very energetic particles streaking through the fluid in the eye and colliding with retinal cells, leaving behind the appearance of a luminous, but fleeting, trail of light. Similar streaks have been reported by astronauts in the Space Shuttle and other near-earth missions during the most intense solar storms. It is not known what the long-term consequences of these kinds of brief exposures are upon astronauts, but prospective travelers to Mars will no doubt see many more of them!
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