Mysterious 'Black Holes' Spotted Above Desolate Island Near Antarctica
A fascinating snapshot from space has captured the enigmatic appearance of 10 swirling 'black voids' over a desolate, volcanic island situated in the Indian Ocean. These peculiar black spots are the byproduct of unique atmospheric cloud vortices. Compared to other known instances of this natural event, these are peculiarly pronounced and heavily twisted.
The spiraling voids are seen drifting away from a deserted Australian territory named Heard Island. This island is located in the southern part of the Indian Ocean and is approximately 900 miles north of Antarctica. The island, masked by clouds, spans an area of about 142 square miles.
These dark spots have an average diameter of around 8 miles, and interestingly, they seem to shrink a bit as they continue their journey. It's observed that they initially move in a northeast direction, moving from left to right away from the island.
Understanding the Phenomenon Behind these Spinning Voids
The formation of these spinning voids is attributed to a phenomenon called von Kármán vortices. This happens when a prevailing wind interacts with a landmass, resulting in a disruption in the airflow and subsequently creating a double row of vortices rotating in alternate directions. This phenomenon was first described by Theodore von Kármán, a Hungarian-American physicist, after whom it is named.
In this particular case, these vortices are being generated by Mawson Peak, an active volcano standing tall at 9,000 feet at the heart of Heard Island.
The Unique Nature of these Vortices
Under normal circumstances, von Kármán vortices result in long trails of swirling clouds that get trapped in the disturbed air flows. These cloud streams are typically straight and parallel to each other, like a series of vortex streams that appeared along the Atlantic coast of Africa in 2015.
However, in this peculiar situation, the vortex stream appears to make an almost 90-degree turn halfway through the stream. This sudden change in direction could have been triggered by a sudden surge of the intense westerly winds, often exceeding 50 mph, which regularly blow across the areas surrounding Heard Island and are known as the "Furious Fifties".
In most instances of von Kármán vortices, the resulting cloud trails tend to be quite thin, highlighting the subtle variations in the invisible air currents. However, in this photograph, the thin trails are replaced by a sequence of dense holes, or gaps, within the clouds. This is likely due to the exceptionally thick cloud coverage, which can only be interrupted at the core of each spinning section within the vortex stream.