News. Les chercheurs utilisent un ensemble de trois satellites, surnommés collectivement Swarm, pour suivre l'évolution du champ magnétique terrestre." data-reactid="19">That’s why NASA scientists are tracking this weak point, the agency said on Monday. “These particles can wreak havoc on satellite instruments, so it is good to follow the South Atlantic anomaly, and especially its evolution, in order to be able to take preventive measures,” said Terence Sabaka, a geophysicist at NASA, to NBC News. Researchers are using a set of three satellites, collectively dubbed Swarm, to track the evolution of Earth’s magnetic field.
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The weak point grows and cracks
Some studies suggest that the total area of SAA has quadrupled over the past 200 years, and that SAA continues to expand year after year.
Over the past five years or so, the anomaly may have split in two, according to scientists at NASA and the European Space Agency (ESA): An area of magnetic weakness has developed above the he ocean in southwest Africa, while another is in eastern South America.
The SAA has also weakened by 8% since 1970. This reflects what is happening to the Earth’s magnetic field as a whole: The field has lost about 9% of its strength on average over the past 200 years, according to ESA.
The weak point is a problem for the satellites and the Space Station
A weaker field allows more charged particles from the solar wind to pass through the Earth’s protective shield. Typically, the magnetic field repels these particles or traps them in areas called Van Allen Belts, which suspend the particles 400 miles (about 644 kilometers) above the planet’s surface.
But in a breach like SAA, these charged particles can come close to Earth – so much closer than satellites
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” data-reactid=”29″>The International Space Station has an ‘air leak’
Former Uber security chief charged with attempting to cover up data breach in 2016
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