Morgan BellSource of the Northern Lights discovered
December 18th 2007 18:39
Well, in a sense, you're right.
NASA's Themis mission, a series of satellites used to monitor the near-emptiness of the Earth's inner space, detected a stream of high-energy particles streaming towards our green planet, which then were picked up and flung across the sky by the Earth's magnetic field.
"New data from NASA's Themis mission, a quintet of satellites launched this winter, found the energy comes from a stream of charged particles from the sun flowing like a current through twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting Earth's upper atmosphere to the sun.
The energy is then abruptly released in the form of a shimmering display of lights, said principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California at Los Angeles."
The energy is then abruptly released in the form of a shimmering display of lights, said principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California at Los Angeles."
But how much did we actually know? Scientists have long suspected this was the cause of Aurora Borealis, but this is actually the first time that we have empirical evidence.
Enjoy a little display:
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