megna@roll.DEC (Fred Megna HL01-1/P06) (04/27/84)
path rhea!decwrl!roll!megna subj: northern lights I heard the weather man talking last night about the "northern lights" he said that a "solar flare" emits charged particles and the charged particles react in the upper atmosphere to cause the glow we call northern lights. The explanation that I came up with is the charged particles are photons and they react in the upper atmosphere with ozone (O3) to produce the glow is this the case, or am I even close ??? If anyone knows could they please respond to the net. Please dont get to technicial as I am not to up on my physics. thanks in advance Fred Megna Digital Equipment Corp. 77 Reed RD. HL01-1/P06 Hudson, Ma. 01749
ethan@utastro.UUCP (Ethan Vishniac) (04/28/84)
Fred (and any other interested people):
A solar flare is an eruption in the upper layers of the sun's
atmosphere. It involves a complicated, and not well understood,
interaction between the charged particles ( mostly protons and
electrons, although some heavier ions are present) and the sun's
magnetic field. The end result is that large numbers of the charged
particles are ejected from the sun at very large speeds. When they
reach the Earth they can get trapped in our magnetic field. The
interaction between these particles and our magnetic field produces
radiation (i.e. photons) which we call the northern lights.
N.B. photons are massless, uncharged particles which are the
quanta of free electromagnetic radiation (light).
"Give a roar for Nora Ethan Vishniac
standing in the night {ut-sally,kpno,ut-ngp}utastro!ethan
Who saw the great Aurora Astronomy Department
Borealis burning bright" University of Texas
-Pogo Austin, Texas 78712ethan@utastro.UUCP (05/07/84)
[][][][][][][
Arghhhhh.......
I should never ever post articles when I'm tired.
My explanation of the aurora borealis had a very strange
ending. The northern lights are not due to an interaction
between the charged particles and the magnetic field that has
trapped them. It's due to the interaction between such particles
and the atoms in the upper atmosphere of the Earth. Much of
the light comes out at the frequencies of the forbidden lines.
Many thanks to those who politely informed me of the error of
my ways.
"Just another Cosmic Cowboy"
Ethan Vishniac
{ut-sally,ut-ngp,kpno}!utastro!ethan
Department of Astronomy
University of Texas
Austin, Texas 78712crummer%AEROSPACE@sri-unix.UUCP (05/09/84)
From: Charlie Crummer <crummer@AEROSPACE> I don't know the details of the reactions in the upper atmosphere that cause the Northern Lights but I do know that photons carry no charge. The charged particles are protons and maybe some heavier ions that are ejected by solar storms. These particles enter our atmosphere and interact with molecules and atoms causing them to enter excited energy states. When they undergo transitions to more stable configurations they emit the auroral light. The interaction is an electromagnetic one that occurs through the charge the particles have. --Charlie