PARIS, March 12 (UPI) -- British-led European Space Agency physicists have reported making an unprecedented measurement in their study of the Earth's magnetic field.
The researchers said they used the ESA's four Cluster satellites to detect an electric field thought to be a key element in the process of "magnetic reconnection."
The measurements, obtained by eight electron sensors onboard the four spacecraft, have provided the first insight into magnetic reconnection's detailed behavior.
Magnetic reconnection is a process that can occur nearly anywhere a magnetic field is found, the scientists explained. In a reconnection event, the magnetic field lines are squeezed together somehow and spontaneously reconfigure, releasing energy. When it occurs near the surface of the sun, such events power giant solar flares that can release thousands of millions of tons of electrically charged particles into space.
The new Cluster measurements reveal the electric field on the scale of a few hundred miles.
"This is an impossible calculation to make without four spacecraft," said Paul Henderson of University College London's Mullard Space Science Laboratory, who led the study.
A paper describing the observations appeared in a recent issue of the journal Geophysical Research.
