Earth’s electric and magnetic fields and gravity cause charged particles in the ionosphere to flow away from Earth’s magnetic equator. Typically, plasma bubbles are long and straight because they form along Earth’s magnetic field lines. GOLD observations captured C-shaped and reverse C-shaped plasma bubbles close together in the ionosphere on October 12, 2020, and December 26, 2021. So far, GOLD has only observed two instances of the close pairings, but the C-shaped bubbles have the potential to disrupt communications. “Due to such wide view and continuous measurements, GOLD has allowed us to observe these mysteries within the ionosphere,” Karan said.

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Persons: Jeffrey Klenzing, “, it’s, ”, NASA SVS, Fazlul Laskar, —, Laskar, ” Klenzing, Karan et, Deepak Karan, Karan, ” Karan, John Deere, Tim Marquis, ” Laskar Organizations: CNN, International Space Station, NASA SVS, Goddard Space Flight, NASA, of Geophysical Research, University of Colorado’s Laboratory, Atmospheric Locations: Tonga, Greenbelt , Maryland, Baltimore, Boston