H/T Reese Jones The fact that zebra patterns are observed — and are more clear — during intervals of quiet solar-wind conditions was the main indication that it must be the Earths rotation that drives them, Ukhorskiy said. The presence of the stripes only during calm periods was the first clue that the solar wind was not the driving force behind them. Ukhorskiy and his team went on to model the interactions between the magnetic field and the weak electric field generated by the planets rotation. They concluded that this interaction created the zebra stripes. Zebra stripes only form in the inner electron belt, which extends from Earths atmosphere up to approximately 8,000 miles (13,000 kilometers) above the planets surface. The outer electron belts take the brunt of the solar wind, making an unstable environment of competing processes.
Posted on: Wed, 02 Apr 2014 16:34:12 +0000
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