Something Strange Sends Tech Haywire at Earth's Poles, And NASA Wants to Know More

Live Science ^ | 11/28/2019 | david Nield

[Larry Lucido]

It was an electric can opener.

[dhs12345]

Agreed. And how much does the sun and charged particles induce the Earth’s magnetic field?

[rawcatslyentist]

Hey sprinkle a lil powdered sugar on it and make a funnel cake!

[LadyDoc]

I heard about this at least 30 years ago: the defense department worried that in a nuclear war, if we sent missiles over the pole to hit Russia, they wouldn’t work because the guidance system and the nukes wouldn’t work. It was pretty well a “secret” no one wanted to discuss back then, but may have been one reason they started pushing nuclear armed missiles on submarines.

[Boogieman]

Interesting question. We know the earth acts as a magnet, and the standard idea is that this is because there is a kind of dynamo at the earth's core, due to rotating conductors.

You can compare the earth's field lines to the chart of the field lines of a solenoid and they are basically identical:

Now, with a solenoid, just the current moving through the coils creates that kind of magnetic field on its own. The earth, however, is rotating. If you have a rotating conductor exposed to an external magnetic field, then that field would induce a current in the conductor, and if the conductor were arranged correctly, the current passing through it could form its own magnetic field just like a solenoid. So it's possible that the whole magnetic field of the earth is a consequence of the sun's magnetosphere combined with the composition and motion of the earth.

[one guy in new jersey]

On that question, I have no strong insights. Based on my scientific background though, I would say that the shape and behavior of the earth’s magnetic field might be influenced by the strength (or lack thereof) of the sun’s magnetic field, and by the solar wind. But the overall strength of the earth’s magnetic field would typically only be a function of the metallic constituents of the earth’s interior and how and where they are flowing/shifting position.

[dhs12345]

Exactly. I was thinking more like a transformer (or maybe a an induction motor, motor meaning a moving charged mass, the earth’s core) that is driven by a source, the Sun’s charged particles flowing within it and the charged particles moving through space away from the Sun thus creating a magnetic fields that in turn causes the earth core to “move” or diminishes or adds to the Earths magnetic field.

And depending upon the magnetic force lines of the earth and the Sun and their respective strengths the two mag fields would complement (attract) or cancel (repel each other).

Also, what affect might the magnetic field have on the molecules in the earth’s atmosphere that have a slight charge.

[dhs12345]

Agreed. Depends on how strong the sun’s contribution is near the Earth. The charged particles flying off of the sun may have a greater impact than the sun itself.

Extending the idea, if there is a relationship between solar flares and the strength of the sun’s magnetic field, and there is a minimum of flares at any point in time, that would mean that the sun’s magnetic field projecting itself through space would be reduced as well.