Solar winds in the news

Now this is interesting

http://www.newsroom.ucla.edu/portal/ucla/scientists-discover-surprise-in-101025.aspx

UCLA atmospheric scientists have discovered a previously unknown basic
mode of energy transfer from the solar wind to the Earth's
magnetosphere. The research, federally funded by the National Science
Foundation, could improve the safety and reliability of spacecraft
that operate in the upper atmosphere.

"It's like something else is heating the atmosphere besides the sun.
This discovery is like finding it got hotter when the sun went down,"
said Larry Lyons, UCLA professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences
and a co-author of the research, which is in press in two companion
papers in the Journal of Geophysical Research.
The rate at which the solar wind transfers energy to the magnetosphere
can vary widely, but what determines the rate of energy transfer is
unclear.


"We thought it was known, but we came up with a major surprise," said
Lyons, who conducted the research with Heejeong Kim, an assistant
researcher in the UCLA Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences,
and other colleagues.

"This is where everything gets started," Lyons said. "Any important
variations in the magnetosphere occur because there is a transfer of
energy from the solar wind to the particles in the magnetosphere. The
first critical step is to understand how the energy gets transferred
from the solar wind to the magnetosphere."
.

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