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| NOAA | | Aurora Borealis |
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The Northern Lights
The Northern Lights and Aurora Borealis are names for a phenomenon that technically occurs all around the world, but specifically refers to visible lights usually seen only in the northernmost parts of the world. The Northern Lights are truly a mystifying spectacle, dazzling both visitor and resident alike with their bright colors, wispy movements, and the sheer brilliance and presence they have in the skies.
The Science Behind it
The Northern Lights certainly can seem a bit alien at times, and many stories assign them some sort of mystical origin. In actuality, they begin at the sun. What one is seeing while watching the beautiful green, red, or blue lights is charged particles (typically electrons, but occasionally protons as well) colliding with the gases in our atmosphere. The resulting aurora's color depends on which gas the particles collide with. Blue aurora results from a collision with molecular nitrogen, Green with molecular oxygen, and Red comes from a collision with atomic oxygen, which only exists very high in our atmosphere. These charged particles are shed by the sun during sun spot activity, which means Aurora frequencies are vastly increased whenever there is high sunspot activity.
Though there is an understanding of their origins, there is still very much that we don't understand about the Northern Lights. For instance, during particularly intense Auroral activity, certain parts of the world might experience electronic equipment malfunctions, and can suffer massive power outages. On the other hand, Auroral activity can actually help electronic gear depending on where you're located. Many transmitting devices can function off of Auroral currents alone, such as radios and phones. In other words, these electronics can run off of AURORA POWER.
A famous instance of this occurred on September 2, 1859, when two telegraph operators (one in Boston, the other in Portland, Maine) had a conversation for approximately two hours without the use of any power source other than that of the Auroral activity.
In Mythology
Myths and stories in cultures around the world speculate the origins of the Northern Lights. Many different peoples believed that the Northern Lights were the spirits of the dead dancing in the heavens. Native cultures tell tales of people who whistled at the lights and were taken away by them. In older Norse cultures, the lights were thought to be the trails of various gods and goddesses traveling in the sky. Early Roman mythology identified the Aurora as the glow from strange other-worldly caves in the sky.
Check out the Geophysical Institute's Aurora Forecast at
http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/default.asp
You can learn more about the science of the Northern Lights at the NASA website
http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/aurora_worldbook.html
Please enjoy this brief educational video about Northern Lights made especially for kids at
http://alaskacenters.gov/aurora-information.cfm !
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