Aurora

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Q. Choi, Charles (29 July 2015). "First Alien Auroras Found, Are 1 Million Times Brighter Than Any on Earth". space.com . Retrieved 29 July 2015. Schroeder JW, Howes GG, Kletzing CA, etal. (7 June 2021). "Laboratory measurements of the physics of auroral electron acceleration by Alfvén waves". Nature Communications. 12 (1): 3103. Bibcode: 2021NatCo..12.3103S. doi: 10.1038/s41467-021-23377-5. PMC 8184961. PMID 34099653. Procter, Henry Richardson (1878). "Aurora Polaris". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol.III (9thed.). pp.90–99.

A full understanding of the physical processes which lead to different types of auroras is still incomplete, but the basic cause involves the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetosphere. The varying intensity of the solar wind produces effects of different magnitudes but includes one or more of the following physical scenarios.First reported in 2020 [39] [40] and confirmed in 2021 [41] [42] the dune aurora phenomenon was discovered [43] by Finnish citizen scientists. It consists of regularly-spaced, parallel stripes of brighter emission in the green diffuse aurora which give the impression of sand dunes. [44] The phenomenon is believed to be caused by the modulation of atomic oxygen density by a large-scale atmospheric wave travelling horizontally in a waveguide through an inversion layer in the mesosphere in presence of electron precipitation. [41] Horse-collar aurora [ edit ] A variety of Native American myths surround the spectacle. The European explorer Samuel Hearne traveled with Chipewyan Dene in 1771 and recorded their views on the ed-thin ('caribou'). According to Hearne, the Dene people saw the resemblance between an aurora and the sparks produced when caribou fur is stroked. They believed that the lights were the spirits of their departed friends dancing in the sky, and when they shone brightly it meant that their deceased friends were very happy. [92]

The details of these phenomena are not fully understood. However, it is clear that the prime source of auroral particles is the solar wind feeding the magnetosphere, the reservoir containing the radiation zones and temporarily magnetically trapped particles confined by the geomagnetic field, coupled with particle acceleration processes. [47] Auroral particles [ edit ] University of Minnesota Style Manual". .umn.edu. 18 July 2007. Archived from the original on 22 July 2010 . Retrieved 5 August 2010.The lights we see in the night sky are in actual fact caused by activity on the surface of the Sun.