Researchers have discovered the secrets behind dazzling displays of
Earth’s northern lights in the Northern Hemisphere, the powerhouse for
the cosmic storms in the magnetic field of our planet.
The new findings can help scientists predict when the stormy weather of our space may expose astronauts to deadly radiation bursts or disrupt the global power systems. Researchers can now also add insight into the spectacular auroras over the polar regions of our planet.
Space physicist Vassilis Angelopoulos from the University of California at Los Angeles said, “We finally found out where the energy comes from that powers the aurora in the space weather.”
During the solar storms the charged particles bombard the magnetic field of our planet and result in sending high-energy particles to the magnetotail. As an aftermath these energetic particles flow back to Earth as geomagnetic storms.
Magnetotail is the name given to the long tail of our planet’s magnetic field.
Plasma and particles are streamed from sun via solar wind at speeds of up to 1 million mph and it deforms the magnetic field of our planet. To the sun facing side the field is compressed and it is elongated as a long tail the other side. Some of the energy in this phenomenon gets transferred to our magnetic field and discharges as magnetic storms. This as a result looks as glowing light shows or the northern lights. Similar auroras on the Southern Hemisphere are called as southern lights.
Angelopoulos added, “Those can be so intense at times of storms that they light up the entire night sky all the way down south to Hawaii.”
SOURCE : http://www.pentagonpost.com/scientists-discover-secrets-behind-dazzling-northern-lights/83412240
The new findings can help scientists predict when the stormy weather of our space may expose astronauts to deadly radiation bursts or disrupt the global power systems. Researchers can now also add insight into the spectacular auroras over the polar regions of our planet.
Space physicist Vassilis Angelopoulos from the University of California at Los Angeles said, “We finally found out where the energy comes from that powers the aurora in the space weather.”
During the solar storms the charged particles bombard the magnetic field of our planet and result in sending high-energy particles to the magnetotail. As an aftermath these energetic particles flow back to Earth as geomagnetic storms.
Magnetotail is the name given to the long tail of our planet’s magnetic field.
Plasma and particles are streamed from sun via solar wind at speeds of up to 1 million mph and it deforms the magnetic field of our planet. To the sun facing side the field is compressed and it is elongated as a long tail the other side. Some of the energy in this phenomenon gets transferred to our magnetic field and discharges as magnetic storms. This as a result looks as glowing light shows or the northern lights. Similar auroras on the Southern Hemisphere are called as southern lights.
Angelopoulos added, “Those can be so intense at times of storms that they light up the entire night sky all the way down south to Hawaii.”
SOURCE : http://www.pentagonpost.com/scientists-discover-secrets-behind-dazzling-northern-lights/83412240
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