An upper layer of Earth’s atmosphere recently collapsed in an unexpectedly large contraction, the sheer size of which has scientists scratching their heads, NASA announced Thursday.
The layer of gas – called the thermosphere – is now rebounding again. This type of collapse is not rare, but its magnitude shocked scientists.
“This is the biggest contraction of the thermosphere in at least 43 years,” said John Emmert of the Naval Research Lab, lead author of a paper announcing the finding in the June 19 issue of the journal Geophysical Research Letters. “It’s a Space Age record.”
The collapse occurred during a period of relative solar inactivity – called a solar minimum from 2008 to 2009. These minimums are known to cool and contract the thermosphere, however, the recent collapse was two to three times greater than low solar activity could explain.
“Something is going on that we do not understand,” Emmert said.
Read the rest of this article at Space.com
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the earth is throbbing?? kewl!!
Hm, I observed something too today … clouds, very high up there .. coloured .. mother of perls clouds (although they might have a different term for them in English) … They say that those only can be observed when temperatures up there are extremely low … normally observed at the poles .. but at times also more southern … That’s not in the same sphere as where this collapse occurred .. the one these scientitst have been staring at … but it is not common in this area to have those clouds around in this time of the year …
The sun was different too …
And now I will stop .. I wont tell you the secret behind all of this …look up and observe for yourself and reason …or not if you wish …
I think we in Europe need to worry more about tornadoes that might start to be here a bit more often … I heard 5 power pylon went down in a tornado in Holland … never had happened … they were stunned ..
Chances we get killed due to something down here is more likely .. but they turn their head the other way by then … scientists … Too normal I guess.
oh noses the TV wont workj!
That’s a bit worrying considering it protects us from EUV’s and there’s no full explanation of why such a large contraction occurred. Just another reminder that nature controls us, not the other way round.