Scientists found electromagnetic waves they converted into chirping noises from much further in space than previously thought possible.
They have identified that the phenomenon known as chorus waves originates from a sector within the magnetic field, located over 62,000 miles from Earth—a region previously believed incapable of generating these waves. When altered into sound bites, these waves are similar to the chirps birds make. The study published in the science journal Nature could change how we understand these magnetic waves and deepen our knowledge of space.
Detecting chirping noises from thousands of miles away
A paper in @Nature reports the detection of rising-tone chorus waves — bursts of electromagnetic radiation aligned with Earth’s magnetic field — more than 100,000 km from Earth. https://t.co/3sP4OGUOnA pic.twitter.com/j65MvmVkfS
— Nature Portfolio (@NaturePortfolio) January 22, 2025
Chorus waves are plasma bursts that happen to be the same frequency as human hearing. These collections of electromagnetic radiation travel along Earth’s magnetic field, where scientists can detect them and convert them to sound. When the scientists convert them into sound, they come out as chirps.
Before the recent study, researchers had only ever detected them from about 32,000 miles away from Earth, an estimated 30,000 miles less than the waves talked about in the paper. The vast distance difference challenges scientists to reevaluate their previous findings about the chirping noises.
The plasma bursts were found to have originated on what is called the terrestrial mid-tail neutral sheet, which is on the part of Earth’s magnetic field not facing the sun. The team found this unusual, as it is where the magnetic field experiences maximum distortion. The distance from Earth’s poles disrupts the magnetic dipolar effect, which normally stabilizes the planet’s magnetic field at the northern and southern poles.
“It is a surprising result in a surprising region. It prompts further investigation of chorus waves in regions in which Earth’s magnetic field deviates substantially from a dipole,” Professor Richard Horne, head of space weather at the British Antarctic Survey, said in an interview with BBC Science Focus.
Chorus waves only last but a short while in Earth’s magnetic field, remaining for less than a second. However, they play a role in shaping the Earth’s protective boundary that saves life on the planet from the constant lashings of solar storms. The study states that even in the areas that are most chaotic in the field, chorus waves still interact with electrons in a similar way seen in chirps found closer to the Earth.
Study author Chengming Liu of Beihang University in China said that chorus waves are “one of the strongest and most significant waves in space,” which is exemplified by the fact that they could be detected so far away and in such an unstable region.
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