The Pictures Blog of Mr. MaLao's: Aurora Borealis

Saturday, 28 February 2009

Aurora Borealis - Polar Lights

Following is the photo reporting from Moscow, Russia on the night of September, 15th 2005. By Nikodemus (nikodemus@list.ru)

An aurora is an optical phenomenon characterised by colourful displays of light in the night sky. Solar radiation acts with various gases in an atmosphere of the Earth, giving rise to polar light. Nitrogen gives a lilac shade, oxygen - red or green, sodium - yellow and the results are surprising - a curtain, a crown, a tape, a spiral, an arch. The shapes created are very beautiful and unusual.

This week marks the start of big solar activity. Scientists from all world agreed that it is the biggest phenomenon in history. In all the newspapers it has been written that on the night of September 15th, there will be beautiful polar light in Moscow - the phenomenon is very rare and occurs only on the Far North.

As soon as night fell, my friends and I gathered together. Having taken a videocamera, the still camera we rushed off on a train. We went to the surburbs of the city - where it is not so cloudy. In a forest park the real fairy tale began - In our lifes we have not seen anything like this!
There we took photographs 2 hours on end, but time drew short, and we decided to return to city.

Aurores Boreales View from City.
By then the clouds had disappeared, also we already tried to take photographs in the city. At last we have called up our friends from the astronomical institute. They had just processed the pictures received from space.

Saturn Aurora
On Earth, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune, aurorae are caused by the interaction of solar wind particles with the planet's magnetic field, and are therefore most prominent in higher latitudes near the magnetic poles. For this reason, the aurora occurring in Earth's Northern Hemisphere is called the aurora borealis, or northern lights; and in the Southern Hemisphere the aurora australis.

Space Aurora ISS.
Above is a picture taken from the International Space Station (ISS) of the phenomenon

Photos by Nikodemus Koniwzski and Alex Markoff
Aurora Borealis as seen from space - (Image courtesy of the Image Science & Analysis Laboratory, NASA)

Aurora Borealis in Canada

(Also known as the Northern Lights)

(bôr´´ēăl´ĭs) and Aurora Australis (ôstrā´lĭs) , luminous display of various forms and colors seen in the night sky. The Aurora Borealis of the Northern Hemisphere is often called the "Northern Lights", and the Aurora Australis of the Southern Hemisphere is known as the "Southern Lights".

Each is visible over an area centering around the geomagnetic pole of its own hemisphere. The Aurora Borealis is said to occur with greatest frequency along a line extending through N Norway, across central Hudson Bay, through Point Barrow, Alaska, and through N Siberia. It is often visible in Canada and the N United States and is seen most frequently at the time of the equinoxes; in times of extreme activity, it may be seen in parts of the S United States.

Among the most magnificent of natural phenomena, auroral displays appear in shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet and are usually brightest in their most northern latitudes.

The aurora is seen in a variety of forms, e.g., as patches of light, in the form of streamers, arcs, banks, rays, or resembling hanging draperies. The aurora occurs between 35 mi and 600 mi (56 km—970 km) above the earth. It is caused by high-speed electrons and protons from the sun, which are trapped in the Van Allen radiation belt high above the earth and then channeled toward the polar regions by the earth's magnetic field. These electrically charged particles enter the atmosphere and collide with air molecules (chiefly oxygen and nitrogen), thus exciting them to luminosity; near the 600-mile level, the light may be given off by electrons and protons combining to form hydrogen atoms.

The auroras coincide with periods of greatest sunspot activity and with magnetic storms (disturbances of the ionosphere which interfere with long-distance radio communication). Much was learned about the aurora during the 1957—58 International Geophysical Year, when it was studied intensively by means of balloons, radar, rockets, and satellites.