* Astronomy

Blobrana · L

RE: Aurora borealis

Blobrana · L

North America

Europe

Comparison of Auroral Boundaries from Kp and Auroral Activity Level at Local Midnight
Magnetic Latitude	Kp	Magnetic Latitude	NOAA POES Auroral Activity Level
66.5	0	67.5	1
64.5	1	66.5	2
62.4	2	65.6	3
60.4	3	63.9	4
58.3	4	62.5	5
56.3	5	60.7	6
54.2	6	58.6	7
52.2	7	56.7	8
50.1	8	54.6	9
48.1	9	51.0	10
		48.5	10+
		45.0	10++

-- Edited by Blobrana on Sunday 5th of June 2011 11:06:22 AM

Blobrana · L

Magnetometer readings can provide an indication of ongoing geomagnetic activity.
This Graph shows real-time data for today from SAMNET's magnetometer at Crooktree, Near Torphins, Aberdeenshire

IMAGE

Credit : AuroraWatch UK

The graph shows the North-South (H) component of the magnetic field as a black line, with a typical quiet day shown in blue. The difference between the current field and a quiet day is plotted as a colour-coded bar chart: green for quiet, orange for active and red for stormy. Times are in UT.

Blobrana · L

Aurora Borealis to light up the night sky

Astronomers have said the possibility of seeing the Northern Lights in Scotland has increased after the sun unleashed a giant solar flare.
Scientists said the burst of radiation and magnetic energy could also disrupt communications equipment.
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Blobrana · L

Northern Lights: Magical sights high above NI sky

For stargazers and skywatchers in Northern Ireland, the past week has provided much manna from heaven.
At a time of year when many evenings shed about as much light as an evasive spin doctor, the Aurora Borealis has been casting its spectacular celestial glow over large parts of the countryside.
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Blobrana · L

New space research settles years of scientific debate

New space research published this week (Thursday 21 October) in the journal Nature, has settled decades of scientific debate. Researchers from the University of California (UCLA) and British Antarctic Survey (BAS) have found the final link between electrons trapped in space and the glow of light from the upper atmosphere known as the diffuse aurora. The research will help us understand 'space weather', with benefits for the satellite, power grid and aviation industries, and how space storms affect the Earth's atmosphere from the top down.
Scientists have long understood that the 'diffuse aurora' is caused by electrons striking the upper atmosphere. However, the electrons are normally trapped much higher up in the Earth's magnetic field through a long chain of events starting with the Sun. The problem is to understand how these electrons reach the atmosphere.
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Blobrana · L

RE: Aurora

Blobrana · L

Cluster takes first look at acceleration processes driving aurora

Scientists from University College London (UCL) have made the first direct observations of charged particles that lead to some of the brightest aurora using the Cluster spacecraft. Dr Colin Forsyth will present the results at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting (NAM2010) in Glasgow on Monday 12th April.
The aurora, or northern and southern lights, are caused by highly energetic charged particles, normally held in space by Earth's magnetic field, colliding with Earth's upper atmosphere. As these high-energy particles collide with molecules in the atmosphere they lose energy, causing the atmospheric molecules to glow and heating the atmosphere. The result of is spectacular displays of shimmering curtains of red, green and blue light normally seen above the polar regions, but occasionally seen as far south as northern England.

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username: nam2010, password: 67$%nam

Blobrana · L

RE: Aurora borealis

Blobrana · L

Colliding Auroras Produce Explosions of Light
A network of cameras deployed around the Arctic in support of NASA's THEMIS mission has made a startling discovery about the Northern Lights. Sometimes, vast curtains of aurora borealis collide, producing spectacular outbursts of light. Movies of the phenomenon were unveiled at the Fall meeting of the American Geophysical Union today in San Francisco.

"Our jaws dropped when we saw the movies for the first time. These outbursts are telling us something very fundamental about the nature of auroras" - space scientist Larry Lyons of UCLA, a leading member of the team that made the discovery.

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