For the first time, scientists have measured a planet-wide electric field on Earth.
This breakthrough has been achieved through NASA’s Endurance mission.
Known as the ambipolar electric field, scientists first hypothesized over 60 years ago that it drove how our planet’s atmosphere can escape above Earth’s North and South Pole
For the first time, scientists have measured a planet-wide electric field on Earth, known as the ambipolar electric field. This breakthrough, achieved through NASA’s Endurance mission, sheds new light on a fundamental aspect of our planet’s atmosphere.
“Using observations from a NASA suborbital rocket, an international team of scientists has, for the first time, successfully measured a planet-wide electric field thought to be as fundamental to Earth as its gravity and magnetic fields. Known as the ambipolar electric field, scientists first hypothesized over 60 years ago that it drove how our planet’s atmosphere can escape above Earth’s North and South Poles,” NASA said.
Let’s delve into the details.
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Since the 1960s, researchers have observed particles escaping Earth’s atmosphere at the poles. “Theorists predicted this outflow, which they dubbed the ‘polar wind,’ spurring research to understand its causes,” the space agency added.
The mystery was that something was clearly drawing these particles out of the atmosphere, and an electric field was suspected to be the cause. After decades of speculation, NASA’s Endurance mission successfully confirmed the existence of this electric field.
“On May 11, 2022, Endurance launched and reached an altitude of 477.23 miles (768.03 kilometers), splashing down 19 minutes later in the Greenland Sea. Across the 322-mile altitude range where it collected data, Endurance measured a change in electric potential of only 0.55 volts,” NASA explained.
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This discovery not only helps us understand how Earth’s atmosphere has evolved but also offers insights into similar processes on other planets.
“Any planet with an atmosphere should have an ambipolar field,” said Glyn Collinson, principal investigator of Endurance at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
With this new knowledge, researchers can now delve deeper into how this electric field has shaped our planet and potentially discover similar fields on other planets.
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Ayushi Jain
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