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RACING PIGEONS AUSTRALIA
THE EARTHS MAGNETIC FIELD.
The ability that allows birds to navigate across vast oceans, fly around high mountains, over large areas of desert & plains....is due to the Earths magnetic field.
Huge flocks of migratory birds have been tracked by Doppler radar at night at great heights, thousands of miles from land. This is a common observance by the radar officers on naval ships in mid ocean. Some birds have been tagged with electronic devices and tracked by satellite as they make their long distance voyages. These flights are made possible because of their ability to "read" the earths magnetic fields.
Where does the earth get it's magnetic field from? ........Good question!
The answer is from deep within the earth. The earth is like a huge magnet. It is thought that the magnetic forces are generated deep within the core of the earth where heavy, dense iron masses are situated. Much has been learned about this field in respect to its distribution and shape. Although the magnetic field generally conforms to that of a normal magnet, there are many areas within the magnetic field where the lines of force deviate from the normal. These deviations are accredited to forces within the earths crust and deep interior.
Without boring the pants off the average pigeon fancier who only wants to know......"how the hell does my pigeon get home"..... lets just say that this magnetic field of the earth is present as a force both vertically and horizontally around the entire earth. It is emitted from the earth at the South Pole and re-enters the earth at the North Pole.
This magnetic force changes day to day and has had records kept for centuries in regards to magnitude and direction.
So, well you might ask.............. if a pigeon can "read" the earths magnetic field and its intensity, strength and direction...............how do they sometimes get lost?
This question can now be answered. The answer is because of the violent activity that takes place..........deep within our very own Sun.
Our very own star is a massive ball of energy. It is 109 times the diameter of our planet. It's mass is 1.2 million times that of the earth & it has a core temperature of 14 million degrees. Nuclear reactions are continually taking place deep in the core of the sun and this energy flows to the surface as radiation. Some of this radiation is fired out into space as charged particles.
These clouds of plasma & charged particles are in the form of clouds millions of times the size of the earth itself. These come into contact with the earths magnetic field as they are blasted into space by the sun. When they reach our planet they alter the strength and regularity of the earths magnetic field.
A solar prominence looping hundreds of thousands of miles into space. If you placed the earth against the sun in size......it would be smaller than a full stop typed on this page by comparison.
These solar origin particles arrive at the earth causing magnetic storms and Aurora Borealis displays near the poles. When on a large scale, they can cause major blackouts to electrical systems on the earth. No wonder our birds become lost if it affects jet airliners and communications and shuts down major cities power grids.
Click on our eyesign to learn how eyes and magnetism go together.
Page by Brenty