Modern Mysteries

Scientists map 'Bermuda Triangle of Space'

By T.K. Randall
May 29, 2014 ·  14 comments

Earth's orbit has its own Bermuda Triangle. Image Credit: NASA The Bermuda Triangle that most people are familiar with is an area of the North Atlantic in which multiple ships and planes are believed to have disappeared under mysterious circumstances, but there is another region over parts of South America that is proving to be equally as problematic.

Known as the South Atlantic Anomaly, the area has been associated with satellite and spacecraft failures for years.

The Hubble Space Telescope once suffered problems with its instruments while passing over the region, computers aboard the International Space Station have been known to crash and some astronauts have even witnessed strange flashing lights.The cause of these problems is a weak point in the Earth's magnetic field resulting in an increase in energetic particles, exposing orbiting satellites to higher than usual levels of radiation when they pass overhead.

Scientists in Italy have recently managed to more accurately map out the borders of the anomaly and have discovered that it appears to be moving eastwards at a rate of 37km per year.

Those on the ground however have no reason to fear as the excess radiation is only believed to affect objects at a height of 200km or above.

Source: News.com.au | Comments (14)

Tags: Bermuda, South Atlantic Anomaly