GeoLog

northern lights

Imaggeo on Mondays: How do Earth’s Northern Lights form?

September 16, 2019
Imaggeo on Mondays: How do Earth’s Northern Lights form?
Aurora Borealis in Ny Ålesund, Svalbard. Credit: Konstantina Nakoudi (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Aurora Borealis, which means Northern Lights are caused by electrically charged particles from the sun, which enter the Earth’s atmosphere and collide with gases such as oxygen and nitrogen. When the charged particles are blown towards the Earth by the solar wind, they are largely deflected by the Earth’s magnetic field. However, the Earth’s magnetic field is weaker at the poles and therefore some ...[Read More]

Imaggeo on Mondays: Northern lights in northern Norway

March 18, 2019
Imaggeo on Mondays: Northern lights in northern Norway
Northern lights in northern Norway. Credit: Rita Nogherotto (distributed via imaggeo.egu.eu)

Northern lights in Tromsø, displaying the collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun which penetrate the earth’s magnetic shield and strike atoms and molecules in our atmosphere. Collisions excite the atoms causing electrons to move to higher-energy orbits, further away from the nucleus. When electrons move back to lower-energy orbits, they release particles of light call ...[Read More]

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

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

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]