Who would have guessed that the Earth’s plasmasphere is affected by lunar tides, but offset from the Moon’s position by 90 degrees?!
Major take-a-ways:
“High plasmapause tide occurs when the moon is at first quarter, and low tide occurs 2 weeks later, at last quarter. The tidal waves in the plasmasphere occur once per day and once per month, versus the twice-per-day and twice-per-month cycles for ocean and other tides.”
The 90 degree offset is difficult to explain, as it doesn’t vary with lunar phase, Earth-Moon distance, changes in seasons, or any other known factors. “That means it’s caused not by gravity alone but by gravity and electromagnetic forces working together, the researchers said.”
Could longitudinal component of EM waves (i.e., gravity) be the answer?..
“Understanding this new result is going to require a fun dive into some basic space plasma physics,…”