NASA THEMIS spacecraft discovers spacequakes, asteroidquakes

Greenbelt - The five NASA THEMIS spacecraft have discovered a new space phenomena called spacequakes, which are temblors in the Earth's magnetic field that also have the strength to reach down to the planet's surface and cause strong quakes.

In February 2007, NASA launched five THEMIS (Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms) spacecraft. Three years later, the craft is providing fascinating data that could give insight into more space anomalies. According to a NASA news release, scientists have discovered temblors in space, which play an important role in the bright Northern Lights. These anomalies are called spacequakes, which occur in the Earth’s magnetic field. However, the space temblors can strike the planet’s surface in magnitudes of between 5 and 6. “Magnetic reverberations have been detected at ground stations all around the globe, much like seismic detectors measure a large earthquake,” said THEMIS principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos of UCLA. Furthermore, according to Space, the scientists have also discovered various forms of other spaceweather phenomenon. Scientists say that seismic tremors can occur in asteroids (asteroidquakes), stars (starquakes) and the Moon (moonquakes). The asteroidquakes could have an impact on Earth if they fly too close to our planet. “It's a complicated process, but it all fits together,” said THEMIS project scientist David Sibeck of the Goddard Space Flight Center. “How big can spacequakes become? How many vortices can swirl around Earth at once--and how do they interact with one another?"