Deep beneath our feet, at a staggering depth of over 5,100km, lies Earth's inner core — a solid ball of iron and nickel that plays a crucial role in shaping the conditions we experience on the surface. In fact, without it we'd be unlikely to even exist.
But despite its significance, it's a bit of a puzzle how it formed and developed. We don't even know how old it is. Luckily, mineral physics is bringing us closer to solving the mystery.
The inner core is responsible for Earth's magnetic field, which acts like a shield, protecting us from harmful solar radiation. This magnetic field might have been important for creating the conditions that allowed life to thrive billions of years ago.
The Earth's inner core was once liquid, but has turned solid over time. As the Earth gradually cools, the inner core expands outwards at the surrounding iron-rich liquid "freezes". That said, it is still extremely hot, at least 5,000 Kelvin (K) (4726.85°C). READ MORE...
On Thursday, a crack opened in Earth’s magnetic field and stayed open for nearly 14 hours, allowing Vecna and his minions through from the Upside Down. OK, perhaps not that last bit, but it did allow some powerful solar winds to pour through the hole, creating a geomagnetic storm that sparked some pretty epic aurora.
The crack in the magnet field was created by a rare phenomenon called a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) from the Sun. CIRs are large-scale plasma structures generated in the low and mid-latitude regions of the heliosphere – the region surrounding the Sun that includes the solar magnetic field and the solar winds – when fast and slow-moving streams of solar wind interact.
Like coronal mass ejections (CMEs), CIRs get flung out from the Sun towards Earth and can contain shockwaves and compressed magnetic fields that cause stormy space weather, which usually presents itself to us as pretty aurorae.
This one hit Earth’s magnetic field in the early hours of July 7 and caused a long-lasting G1-class geomagnetic storm. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) analysts suspect a CME was embedded in the solar wind ahead of the CIR, Spaceweather.com reports.
Don't worry, cracks in Earth's magnetic field are normal. The magnetic field acts as a shield to protect us from solar storms spat out by the Sun. It was thought they opened and closed relatively quickly but now we know they can stay open for hours. READ MORE...
When a solar flare hits the Earth's magnetic field, it can result in a solar storm that affects the power grid and radio communication.
Experts at SpaceWeather.com stated: "A beautiful solar flare (M4-class) on April 29th hurled a CME into space. It might sideswipe Earth today.
"The glancing blow, if it occurs, could spark a minor G1-class geomagnetic storm on May 2nd or 3rd."
A CME stands for coronal mass ejection, a type of solar flare.
It's essentially a huge expulsion of plasma from the Sun's outer layer, called the corona.
This mass ejection of particles from the Sun travels through space and the Earth uses its magnetic field to protect us from damaging radiation.
Each solar storm that hits Earth is graded by severity and this one is only expected to be a "G1 minor".
This means it could cause weak power grid fluctuations and have a small impact on satellite communications.
Fortunately, solar storms aren't thought to be dangerous to humans on Earth. READ MORE...
