[douglasdickel]

Portais entre os campos magnéticos da Terra e do Sol!

1:15

Most portals are small and short-lived;

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others are yawning, vast, and sustained.

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Energetic particles can flow through the openings,

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heating Earth's upper atmosphere,

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sparking geomagnetic storms,

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and igniting bright polar auroras.

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NASA is planning a mission called 'MMS,'

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short for Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission,

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due to launch in 2014, to study the phenomenon.

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Bristling with energetic particle detectors and magnetic sensors,

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the four spacecraft of MMS will spread out in Earth's magnetosphere

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and surround the portals to observe how they work.

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Just one problem: Finding them.

1:56

Magnetic portals are invisible, unstable, and elusive.