aurora borealis

Geosciences column: Making aurora photos taken by ISS astronauts useful for research

Laura Roberts-Artal October 7, 2016

Northern lights appeared over Murphy Dome, Alaska. Credit: Taro Nakai (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

It’s a clear night, much like any other, except that billions of kilometers away the Sun has gone into overdrive and (hours earlier) hurled a mass of charged particles, including protons, electrons and atoms towards the Earth. As the electrons slam into the upper reaches of the atmosphere, the night sky explodes into a spectacular display of dancing lights: aurora. Aurora remain shrouded in myste ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Light fantastic – flashing phenomena in Norway’s night sky

Sara Mynott May 19, 2014

In this week’s Imaggeo on Mondays, Bjørn Gitle Hauge – from Østfold University College – opens our eyes to the astounding aurora borealis, and the unusual phenomena seen in Norway’s night sky… Hessdalen is a former mining district in the middle of Norway with huge ores of copper and mineshafts up to a kilometre deep. The climate here is sub-Arctic, with temperatures reaching as low as -50 de ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Capturing the aurora

Sara Mynott September 9, 2013

The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are created as charged particles interact with the Earth’s atmosphere. These electrons are part of the solar wind and as they pass through the Earth’s magnetic shield (the magnetosphere); the charged particles collide with those in our atmosphere, emitting light. In the southern hemisphere this phenomenon is known as the aurora australis, but both are caus ...[Read More]