New, temporary radiation belt spotted around Earth

This artist rendering provided by NASA shows the Van Allen radiation belts around Earth. A new study published Thursday Feb. 28, 2013, in the journal Science reports that NASA?s recently launched twin satellites to the region discovered a third, temporary ring. It appeared for a month before a shock wave from the sun destroyed it. Scientists are still trying to figure out how often this happens. (AP Photo/NASA)

This artist rendering provided by NASA shows the Van Allen radiation belts around Earth. A new study published Thursday Feb. 28, 2013, in the journal Science reports that NASA?s recently launched twin satellites to the region discovered a third, temporary ring. It appeared for a month before a shock wave from the sun destroyed it. Scientists are still trying to figure out how often this happens. (AP Photo/NASA)

LOS ANGELES (AP) ? You may not have noticed it, but for several weeks last year, the Earth was surrounded by an extra ring of radiation.

There are two doughnut-shaped rings of highly charged particles encircling the planet. Discovered in 1958, they're known as the Van Allen radiation belts.

So it came as a surprise when NASA's recently launched twin satellites to the treacherous region discovered a third, temporary ring. It appeared for a month before a shock wave from the sun destroyed it. Scientists are still trying to figure out how often this happens.

The twin spacecraft launched last year on a mission to explore the Van Allen belts. Solar storms can cause the rings to expand, posing a potential threat to satellites.

The discovery was reported online Thursday in the journal Science.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/b2f0ca3a594644ee9e50a8ec4ce2d6de/Article_2013-02-28-Radiation%20Satellites/id-57af84114e2e48af9c61f4539c7a161f

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