Great Borealis
The northern lights are a great reminder that the Earth is constantly absorbing energy from the sun – even during the night. Our nearest star bathes the planet in streams of energetic particles, magnetic fields, and radiation that stimulate our atmosphere and sometimes illuminate the night sky.
February 4, 2022 at 2:20 a.m. mid-summer time (8:20 a.m. world time) Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) is Finnish nuclear power plant the satellite acquired this image northern lights, or “northern lights” over central Canada and the Hudson Bay. (Northern lights were visible for three consecutive nights North America and Northern Europe.) The night view was enabled by VIIRS using a “day-night band” that measures night light emissions and reflections, including air glow, city lights, and reflected moonlight.
Northern lights were a visible manifestation of a a small geomagnetic storm-interference of the upper atmosphere due to the interaction of pressure waves and electromagnetic energy from the Sun with the Earth’s magnetic field (or magnetosphere). In this case, the sun spit out the currents of the rapid solar wind temporarily hole in the crown of the sun.
The collision of solar particles and pressure into the Earth’s magnetosphere accelerates particles that are already trapped in the space around the Earth (such as in radiation zones). These particles are sent to collide with the Earth’s upper atmosphere at an altitude of 100 to 400 kilometers, where they excite oxygen and nitrogen molecules and release photons. The result is rays, sheets and curtains of light dancing in the sky.
Solar Cycle 25 is now running, which means more opportunities to see the northern lights. The orbit of the sun is traditionally measured by the increase and decrease in the number of sunspots, but they also coincide with an increase in solar flares, coronal mass bursts (CMEs), radio emissions, and more. shapes in space. Scientists are predicted that the sun will reach its next peak of activity (solar maximum) in mid-2025.
You can participate in aurora civics through a project called Aurorasaurus. The project tracks northern lights around the world through reports on its website and Twitter, and then creates a real-time global map of these reports. Civic researchers review Tweets and reports, and each verified finding serves as a valuable information point for researchers to analyze and incorporate into space weather models. The project is a public-private partnership with the New Mexico Consortium and is supported by the National Science Foundation and NASA.
NASA Earth Observatory image of Joshua Stevens’ VIIRS day and night band data Finland’s national polar partnership. The story of Michael Carlowicz.