NASA spools up ultra-high def aurora movie

NASA spools up ultra-high def aurora movie  article tells that  NASA has released an illuminating ultra-high definition (4K) video featuring the Auroras Borealis and Australis as seen from the International Space Station. Harmonic produced this show exclusively for NASA TV UHD, using time-lapses shot from the International Space Station, showing both the Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis phenomena that occur when electrically charged electrons and protons in the Earth’s magnetic field collide with neutral atoms in the upper atmosphere.

Stunning Aurora Borealis from Space in Ultra-High Definition (4K)

 

2 Comments

  1. Tomi Engdahl says:

    Aurorae Are Created By Electrons Surfing Special Waves, Lab Tests Have Proven
    https://www.iflscience.com/physics/aurorae-are-created-by-electrons-surfing-special-waves-lab-tests-have-proven/

    Scientists believe they have confidently proven the formation mechanism behind the aurorae, the northern and southern lights visible in the night sky at higher latitudes. In particular, researchers have recreated the mechanism in the lab. It all points out to a single culprit: Powerful magnetic waves known as Alfvén waves that accelerate electrons traveling on the magnetic field lines of the Earth before slamming on the atmosphere.

    As reported in Nature Communications, the team used the Large Plasma Device to recreate the waves. They witnessed as electrons were able to not only travel over those waves but to take energy from them, accelerating. These electrons can reach around six percent of the speed of light and by slamming into oxygen and nitrogen atoms, they create the colorful waving curtain effect we see in aurorae.

    “Measurements revealed this small population of electrons undergoes ‘resonant acceleration’ by the Alfven wave’s electric field, similar to a surfer catching a wave and being continually accelerated as the surfer moves along with the wave,” co-author Professor Greg Howes, from the University of Iowa, said in a statement. 

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