How and how the aurora is formed

Mondo Science Updated on 2024-01-19

Auroras appear in the sky above the high magnetic latitudes of the planet and are a brilliant and colorful luminous phenomenon. There are many factors that form the aurora, so let's give you a science about how the aurora is formed.

In 1890, the Norwegian physicist Berkeland believed that from the earth 1The 500 million kilometers of the Sun radiates almost a continuous stream of material points to the Earth. And 50,000 kilometers from the Earth to 650,000 kilometers away, a magnetic field envelops the Earth. When the Sun's mass is blocked by direct exposure to this magnetic field, it spreads around the Earth, looking for a void to drill into, with the result that about 1% of the mass penetrates into the atmosphere near the north magnetic pole. Each solar mass contains an electric power equal to 1,000 volts. They meet atoms and molecules, mostly composed of oxygen and nitrogen, in the upper atmosphere 100 kilometers away, and when the atoms absorb some of the energy contained in the solar mass, they immediately release this energy to produce extremely strong light, which emits green and red light for oxygen, and violet, blue and some deep red light for nitrogen. These colours make up a spectacular aurora scene.

Many scientists are studying the aurora in depth. The aurora that people see is mainly caused by electrons in the stream of charged particles. Moreover, the color and intensity of the aurora also depend on the energy and number of sedimenting particles. To use a figurative metaphor, it can be said that the aurora activity is like a live television screen of magnetospheric activity. The deposition particles are the electron beam of the television, the Earth's atmosphere is the television screen, and the Earth's magnetic field is the electron beam-directed magnetic field. Scientists get a lot of information about the magnetosphere and electromagnetic activity in solar-terrestrial space from this large natural television. For example, polar spectroscopy can be used to understand the sedimentation particle beam**, the type of particles, the magnitude of energy, the structure of the Earth's magnetic tail, the interaction of the Earth's magnetic field with the planetary magnetic field, and the mode and extent of the impact of solar disturbances on the Earth.

Auroras are beautiful, but the energy they cast in the Earth's atmosphere is comparable to the amount of electricity generated by power plants around the world combined. This energy often disrupts radio and radar signals. The strong current generated by the aurora can also be concentrated in the long-distance ** line or affect the propagation of microwaves, so that the current in the circuit is partially or completely "lost", and even the power transmission line is seriously disturbed, so that some areas temporarily lose power**. How to use the energy generated by the aurora for the benefit of mankind is an important mission of the scientific community today.

According to new data from NASA's "Themis Mission" (2007 12), scientists found that the charged particles released by the sun flew to the earth like a stream of air, and when they hit the magnetic field over the North Pole, they formed a number of distorted magnetic fields, and the energy of the charged particles was released in an instant, in the form of brilliant and dazzling aurora borealis, while the earth's aurora was mainly only red. Green dicolor is because nitrogen and oxygen atoms in the thermoforming layer are collided with electrons, emitting red and green light, respectively. The five-man confines of the Sulmis mission were successfully launched in February 2007, and in March the Northern Lights were detected two hours over Alaska and Canada, at the same time as the satellites detected a stream of charged particles in contact with the Arctic magnetic field. To Angelopoulos's surprise, the geomagnetic storm formed by the contact between charged particles and the magnetic field swept through the air at a speed of 650 kilometers per minute, with a force equivalent to 5Level 5**.

Scientists have long suspected that the Northern Lights are powered by a distorted magnetic field created by the contact of charged particles with the Arctic magnetic field, but this theory was not confirmed until May 2010. At that time, the constellation of satellites of the Thurmis mission was the first to detect the structure of the distorted magnetic field from more than 60,000 kilometers above the Earth.

Aurora is a process of mass electrical discharge around the Earth. Charged particles from the Sun reach the vicinity of the Earth, and the Earth's magnetic field forces a portion of them to concentrate along the field lines to the north and south poles. When they enter the upper atmosphere of the polar regions, they collide with and excite atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, producing light that forms the aurora. Frequently seen in the two ring-shaped zones around 67 degrees north and south latitudes, Fairbanks, Alaska, is known as the "Capital of the Northern Lights" for more than 200 days of the year. So the aurora can only be seen at the north and south poles of the earth.

The magnetic field lines of the Earth's magnetosphere carry the energy of the solar wind into the Earth's interior, which in turn drives the formation of the geomagnetic field. In addition to the conductors of electricity in the Earth's interior, there is also the ionosphere of the atmosphere - a weak conductor of electricity. When the solar wind is strong, the magnetic field line energy encounters the magnetic inductive resistance of the earth's interior, and a lot of energy cannot be consumed, so an aurora is formed in the ionosphere.

According to the study of the distribution of auroras, the shape of the auroral region is not a ring centered on the geomagnetic pole, but an oval shape. The spectral line range of the aurora is about 3100 6700 angstroms, of which the most important spectral line is the 5577 angstroms oxygen atom green line, which is called the aurora green line.

Most auroras occur 90---130 kilometers above the Earth. In 1959, a Northern Lights measured at an altitude of 160 kilometers and a width of more than 4,800 kilometers. But some aurora borealis are much higher, reaching heights of more than 560---1000 kilometers.

According to the morphological classification of auroras, it can be divided into uniform arc aurora, ray beam aurora, ray arc with aurora, curtain aurora, aurora crown, etc.

According to the electromagnetic wave band observed by the aurora, it can be divided into optical aurora, radio aurora, etc.

According to the type of laser excited particles, it can be divided into electron aurora, proton aurora, etc.

According to the auroral occurrence area, it can be divided into aurora cover aurora, aurora with aurora, mid-latitude aurora red arc, etc.

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