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| Graph of sudden changes
in both the local magnetic field and ground current at the Polarlightcenter geophysical observatory in Lofoten, Norway, on January 6, when the Earth apparently passed through a fold in the interplanetary magnetic field. (Graph courtesy Rob Stammes / Polarlightcenter, Norway <www.polarlightcenter.com >) |
Spaceweather.com reported
that, on January 6, electrical currents began flowing through the ground in Norway.
Researcher Rob Stammes of the Polarlightcenter geophysical observatory
(<www.polarlightcenter.com>) reported measuring "a sudden strong
variation in both ground currents and our local magnetic field" (see
graph). Just 15 minutes earlier, according to the spaceweather report, NASA's
ACE spacecraft detected a five-fold increase in the density of the solar wind
and a 180-degree shift in the IMF's polarity. It was speculated that Earth had
just passed through a fold in the heliospheric current sheet.
These ground currents can
cause significant problems here on Earth. Professor Louis Lanzerotti of the New
Jersey Institute of Technology, an expert in the field, wrote on the HamSCI
e-mail reflector that such currents have caused major power blackouts, such as
the one that hit Quebec in 1989, as well as failures in undersea phone cables.
The January 6 event also
touched off auroras over Scandinavia. They
were visible in Finland, but
Stammes reported that the skies over his observatory in Lofoten, Norway,
were cloudy so "we had to be satisfied with the electricity
underfoot."
