Mercury faces huge magnetic storms

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=134989§ionid=3510208


The analysis of MESSENGER spacecraft's data reveals huge intense magnetic storms in the magnetic tail of the closest planet to the sun, the journal Science reported.

According to the journal Science, the storms occur in the planet's 'magnetic tail, part of the planet's magnetic field.

The tails are formed from solar winds made up of 'charged particles' coming from the sun. They are formed in a manner similar to water hitting a rock and reforming behind it.

Magnetic fields are common in all planets in our solar system except for Mars and Venus. However, Mercury's is the weakest and smallest magnetic field.

The MESSENGER collected the data as it flew over Mercury as the tiny planet gathered huge amounts of energy from the coming solar winds.

The planet then increased the power of its magnetic field by 2 folds in 90 seconds before suddenly returning back to normal, releasing all that energy in another 90 seconds.

This is unusual as on earth a similar situation takes an hour increasing the field's energy by just 10%.

"This is all very curious…We have very weak solar wind conditions, yet we're seeing more tail loading than what we see on Earth. What's going to happen when the [solar] wind conditions pick up?" said lead author of the report Jim Slavin, who is a solar physicist at NASA Goddard Spaceflight Center.

The best chance to answer this question will come up when the MESSENGER settles into Mercury's orbit in 2011 when the solar system may experience a peak in the sun's activities in 2012-2013.

2010 June hottest on record: NOAA

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail.aspx?id=134984§ionid=3510212


Last month set a record as the hottest June on the planet for the combined land and ocean surface temperatures, climate scientists have reported.

According to a new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) on Thursday, the average global temperature for the planet was 16.2 °C which was 0.68 °C higher than the average recorded heat for the month of June.

The year 2010 has also recorded the highest average temperature for the period covering January to June at 12°C.

Among various regions of the planet, June recorded warmer than average temperatures in eastern and western Asia, central and eastern US and Peru, while southern China, Scandinavia and the northwestern United States recorded cooler than normal temperatures.

NOAA estimates the Arctic sea now covers 4.2 million square kilometers, which is the lowest coverage in June since recording began in 1979. The area is 10.6% lower than the area recorded for 1979 to 2000.

It also reported that last month was the 19th successive June on record with 'below average sea ice,' AP reported.