Surprising discovery by NASA an unexpected X & C-shaped structures spotted in Earth's upper atmosphere

Images from NASA’s GOLD mission show C-shaped (Image Credit: D. Karan et al.)

NASA has made a surprising discovery of X and C-shaped structures in the Earth's atmosphere under NASA’s Global-scale Observations of the Limb and Disk (GOLD) mission.

This mission revealed that there are some strange formations of an electrified layer of gas in the ionosphere. This surprising discovery made the scientists rethink their knowledge of the ionosphere layer of Earth as there is so much to learn about its effect on the communication system on the land.

The ionosphere layer is around 50 to 400 miles (roughly 80 to 644 kilometres) thick and is situated on the planet's surface which due to the sun's rays gets charged. This results in the creation of plasma bands of charged particles that influence the magnetic field present on the Earth and this also allows the communication system to take place on Earth as it allows the radio signal to travel long distance.

At night time the bubbles start forming on the Earth due to the Sun's energy stars fading and low-density plasma formation takes place. Due to this, the GPS and communication systems are affected by the bubbles formation.

In past studies, it was revealed that the formation of the X-shaped structures was the result of the large volcanic eruptions and solar storms. The crest of the ionosphere merges and forms these structures.

A paper on this research was published on the April 2024 in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics. Fazlul Laskar, from the University of Colorado’s Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) and is the lead of this research paper in his statement has said “Earlier reports of merging were only during geomagnetically disturbed conditions — it is an unexpected feature during geomagnetic quiet conditions.”

The other structure that is C is formed due to the C shaped plasma bubbles that is the results of the terrestial winds.  When winds increase with altitude, a C-shape pattern forms. Conversely, if winds decrease with altitude, a reverse C-shape pattern emerges.

These findings help understand the dynamics of wind behavior and their interactions with Earth's magnetic field, which is essential for weather prediction and climate modeling.

GOLD has managed to record these Cs forming surprisingly, as these C shapes formation are rare to happen. The captures by the GOLD are close together – sometimes around 634 kilometres (400 miles).

“Within that close proximity, these two opposite-shaped plasma bubbles had never been thought of, never been imaged,” said by ionosphere physicist Deepak Karan, from the University of Colorado, he further added “The fact that we have very different shapes of bubbles this close together tells us that the dynamics of the atmosphere is more complex than we expected,” Klenzing said.

Scientists are actively investigating these mysterious X- and C-shaped structures in Earth’s ionosphere. The GOLD mission has provided valuable data, but further research is needed to understand their origin, behavior, and potential impact on communication systems.