'Space Tornadoes' Could Cause Geomagnetic Storms, but These Phenomena Aren't Easy to Study

'Space tornadoes' could cause geomagnetic storms, but these phenomena aren't easy to study

Weather forecasting is a powerful tool. During hurricane season, for instance, meteorologists create computer simulations to forecast how these destructive storms form and where they might travel, which helps prevent damage to coastal communities. When you're trying to forecast space weather, rather than storms on Earth, creating these simulations gets a little more complex. To simulate space weather, you would need to fit the sun, the planets a…

‘Space tornadoes’ could cause geomagnetic storms – but these phenomena, spun off ejections from the Sun, aren’t easy to study

Flux ropes (simulated, right) are structures made up of magnetic field lines wrapping around each other like a rope, that look similar to tornadoes on Earth. NOAA, Mojtaba Akhavan-Tafti and Chip ManchesterWeather forecasting is a powerful tool. During hurricane season, for instance, meteorologists create computer simulations to forecast how these destructive storms form and where they might travel, which helps prevent damage to coastal communiti…

‘Space tornadoes’ could cause geomagnetic storms – but these phenomena, spun off ejections from the Sun, aren’t easy to study - Tech and Science Post

Weather forecasting is a powerful tool. During hurricane season, for instance, meteorologists create computer simulations to forecast how these destructive storms form and where they might travel, which helps prevent damage to coastal communities. When you’re trying to forecast space weather, rather than storms on Earth, creating these simulations gets a little more complex. To simulate space weather, you would need to fit the Sun, the planets a…