New study reveals how magnetic fields may form near Earth
Scientist at the Swedish Institute of Space Physics (IRF) contributes to a discovery that could reshape our understanding of how magnetic fields are created in the universe. The discovery, presented in Nature Communications, reveals evidence of a small-scale turbulent dynamo in space and is based on data from NASA’s Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS).
By using MMS data, the scientific team behind the study, observed turbulent plasma flows that twist, stretch and strengthen magnetic field lines. The measurements provided the first observational evidence of a small-scale turbulent dynamo in space.
Although the observations were made close to Earth, the same physical processes are believed to occur all throughout the universe, for example with stars, galaxies and planets.
“Scientists have been theorizing and simulating the process but observational evidence directly in space was lacking. Seeing the turbulent dynamo emerging in the data was incredibly rewarding – it opens a new window in our understanding how magnetic fields arise and evolve throughout the universe.” says IRF scientist Emiliya Yordanova, one of the authors of the study published in Nature Communications
The study provides an entirely new way to investigate these processes directly in space, in the magnetosheath – the turbulent region where the solar wind interacts with Earth’s magnetic field - making it a natural laboratory for testing theories of how magnetic fields form in space.