Magnetic portals between the Earth and the Sun have been discovered.

Jack Scudder, a researcher at the University of Iowa who studies the planet's magnetic field under the auspices of NASA, has found a way to detect magnetic "portals" - places where the Earth's field meets the Sun.

Scientists call them "X points". They are located about a few thousand kilometers from Earth. They "open" and "close" many times a day. At the moment of discovery, the flow of particles from the Sun rushes without interference to the upper layers of the earth's atmosphere, heating it, causing magnetic storms and auroras.

NASA is planning a mission codenamed MMS (Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission) to study this phenomenon. This will not be easy, because magnetic "portals" are invisible and usually short-lived.

Here is a visualization of the phenomenon:

Hidden magnetic portals around the Earth