Earth Surrounded by Huge Magnetic Tunnel, New Study Claims

Scientists hope the research may help them learn about the formation and evolution of magnetic fields in galaxies, and understand how such fields are maintained.

The strange structures, which have been seen in the sky since 1960, can be attributed to a huge magnetic tunnel that surrounds the Earth and covers the Solar System along with some nearby stars, new research has revealed.

Conducted by a group of astronomers from the University of Toronto, Canada, the study found the structures known as the Milky Way’s North Polar Spur and Fan Region may be connected by a vast system of magnetised filaments.

Jennifer West, a research associate at the Dunlap Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics at the University of Toronto, said in a press release that “if we were to look up in the sky, we would see this tunnel-like structure in just about every direction we looked – that is, if we had eyes that could see radio light”.

The researchers calculated that the structures are located about 350 light-years away from the Solar System, which West said is “the equivalent distance of travelling between Toronto and Vancouver two trillion times”.

She explained that a couple of years ago, one of the study’s co-authors, Tom Landecker, told her about a relevant paper dating back to 1965, “from the early days of radio astronomy”.

According to West, the paper’s authors speculated that “[…] polarised radio signals could arise from our view of the Local Arm of the galaxy, from inside it”.

“That paper inspired me to develop this idea and tie my model to the vastly better data that our telescopes give us today”, the scientist pointed out.

She added that astronomers have known about the North Polar Spur and Fan Region for decades, but most scientific theories focused on these structures individually. West insisted that she and her colleagues believe they are the first researchers to connect the structures as a unit.

“I think it’s just awesome to imagine that these structures are everywhere whenever we look up into the night sky”, she said, voicing hope that possibly more discoveries connected to the research is just a matter of time.