[Elecraft] Northern Lights explained

[NZ0T]

Damn, I thought it was caused by magic.

Jim Wiley-2 wrote:
> 
> I thought all you Elecrafters out there would find this interesting:
> 
> 
> 
>     Mystery of northern lights revealed
> 
> 
> 
> SATELLITES: Magnetic explosions in space trigger the dancing displays.
> 
> By MARCIA DUNN
> The Associated Press
> 
> 
> CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Scientists have exposed some of the mystery 
> behind the northern lights.
> 
> 
> On Thursday, NASA released findings that indicate magnetic explosions 
> about one-third of the way to the moon cause the northern lights, or 
> aurora Borealis, to burst in spectacular shapes and colors, and dance 
> across the sky.
> 
> 
> The findings should help scientists better understand the more powerful 
> but less common geomagnetic storms that can knock out satellites, harm 
> astronauts in orbit and disrupt power and communications on Earth, 
> scientists said.
> 
> 
> A fleet of five small satellites, called Themis, observed the beginning 
> of a geomagnetic storm in February, while ground observatories in Canada 
> and Alaska recorded the brightening of the northern lights. The southern 
> lights -- aurora Australis -- also brightened and darted across the sky 
> at the same time.
> 
> 
> These auroral flare-ups occur every two or three days, on average.
> 
> 
> A team led by University of California, Los Angeles, scientist Vassilis 
> Angelopoulos confirmed that the observed storm about 80,000 miles from 
> Earth was triggered by a phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection. 
> Every so often, the Earth's magnetic field lines are stretched like 
> rubber bands by solar energy, snap, are thrown back to Earth and 
> reconnect, in effect creating a short circuit.
> 
>  
> It's this stored-up energy that powers the northern and southern lights 
> or, in other words, causes them to dance, according to Angelopoulos.
> 
> An opposing theory has these geomagnetic events occurring much closer to 
> Earth, about one-sixth of the way to the moon. More Themis observations 
> are needed to resolve the debate, said David Sibeck, NASA's project 
> scientist.
> 
> 
> "Finally, we have the right instruments in the right place at the right 
> time, and it's allowed scientists to be able to make the necessary 
> observations to settle this heated debate once and for all," said Nicola 
> Fox, a Johns Hopkins University scientist who was not involved in the
> study.
> 
> 
> At present, about 20 of these geomagnetic storms are being analyzed. 
> Scientists hope to eventually learn, via this project, more about the 
> bigger solar storms that occur about 10 times a year and can lead to far 
> more expansive and prolonged northern and southern lights.
> 
> 
> The five Themis spacecraft -- a NASA acronym standing for Time History 
> of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms -- were launched 
> aboard a single rocket last year.
> 
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