The mystery of Space Hurricanes: STRANGE solar storm happens nowhere else

tech.hindustantimes.com:

While the name ‘space hurricane' sounds like the name of a badly made science fiction movie, it is real and is one of the strangest space weather phenomena scientists have come across. In fact, it is not even fully solved yet. All researchers know for now is that it exists in a very restricted area within the North Pole and it is a visible form of solar storm that does not occur anywhere else on the Earth. And that's not all. These space hurricanes are fully capable of causing the same damage to wireless communication and satellites orbiting the planet that usual solar storms do. So, what are they and why are we finding them just now? Read on.

A study was published in the Nature journal last year titled ‘A space hurricane over the Earth's polar ionosphere'. The researchers claimed to have discovered cyclone-like auroras near the North Pole. These bright lights were contained with a 600 miles diameter around the topmost part of our planet. The cyclone came equipped with multiple arms which rotated counterclockwise and made a 3D funnel shape in the upper atmosphere, which inspired its name. Interestingly, this was the first time in history when anyone truly spotted it in its entirety.

“[Space hurricanes are] occurring where nobody looked and occurring under conditions where nobody thought anything was happening. It's just a matter of opening your eyes.” Larry Lyons, co-author of the study and a space physicist at UCLA told The Washington Post.

The researchers have revealed that the space hurricanes are, in fact, solar storms that have somehow reached the polar region and, bound by the strong magnetic field of Earth, began spiraling in a cyclonic shape. These hurricanes have been there for a long time, and people on Earth