It's such a beautiful phenomenon, but what conditions are necessary for it to manifest?
2007-02-28 23:10:34 · 3 answers · asked by Pontius 3 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
Both the southern and northern lights are caused by something called the 'Van Allen Belt', this is where high energy particles get trapped within the Earths magnetic field and are pulled towards the ppoles - depending if the particle if +ve or -vely charged.
They release photons due to striking the upper atmosphere, which then fluoresce.
The outer belt consists mainly of high energy electrons and the inner belt consists of mainly protons.
See link for more info....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Van_Allen_radiation_belt
2007-03-01 00:12:24 · answer #1 · answered by Doctor Q 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If i didn't remeber wrongly, it is due to the ring ionosphere orbiting around earth, where ions move at high velocity within the orbital. At the north pole, there is a part where the path of orbital crosses the sky...ions from outer space enter the sky and the high energy ions bombard the molecules in the sky, knocking out electrons. The color is produced when electrons combine with anions again, where photon is released in the process...
2007-02-28 23:28:42 · answer #2 · answered by lam_tensai 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The most recent NASA mission was to launch sattelites to study the Aurora. See website.
2007-02-28 23:20:34 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋