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A space tornado is solar windstorm and is exponentially larger and more powerful than conventional tornadoes on Earth. They are also thought to produce the aurora borealis phenomenon.
Contents
Tornadoes on Earth are formed by the atmosphere and sometimes having precipitation, while space tornadoes are formed by magnetic fields and with plasma.
Characteristics
Space tornadoes are made up of plasmas, consisting of extremely hot ionized gases that rotate at extremely high speeds, some recorded at over 1,000,000 miles per hour (1,600,000 km/h). Within its funnel, they also generate strong electrical currents of about 100,000 amperes. Power transformers and other man made constructs are susceptible to damage from space tornadoes
Discovery
Much of what is understood about space tornadoes was obtained through a NASA mission called Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS), which deployed several probes to measure the strength of the electrical currents, size, and velocity of the rotating plasma.