Difference between revisions of "Northern Lights"
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For seeing the Northern Lights, one should travel to Alaska, or maybe to [[Iceland]], known as the "Land of the Midnight Sun" for the great deal of nightly luminance there. | For seeing the Northern Lights, one should travel to Alaska, or maybe to [[Iceland]], known as the "Land of the Midnight Sun" for the great deal of nightly luminance there. | ||
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| + | ==Scientific Explanation== | ||
| + | The effect is caused the interaction between the solar wind, the Earth's magnetic field and the upper atmosphere. Solar wind is composed of charged particles, so the glancing particles in the particularly strong area of the magnetic field creates what seems like an electrical fireworks display.<ref>[http://solarsystem.nasa.gov/dictionary/index.cfm?Display=Dictionary&Letter=A NASA Dictionary].</ref> | ||
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| + | <references/> | ||
==See also== | ==See also== | ||
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[[Category:Meteorology]] | [[Category:Meteorology]] | ||
| + | [[Category:Astronomy]] | ||
Revision as of 01:23, November 13, 2007
The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are a kind of phenonemon found in the sky in Alaska, Antarctica, and other Northern places of the earth. There is a similar phenonemon called the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis, which is found in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia and New Zealand).
The Northern Lights are similar in tone to Saint Elmo's fire, which often appears on the masts of ships at sea. Sometimes they are accompanied by a buzzing or whistling noise. Scientists in the past tended to discount claims of Northern Lights, blaming such stories on drunken sailors, marsh gas, or the planet Venus, but these days the Northern Lights are accepted by the scientific community. This demonstrates the lack of certitude in science. (See scientific method).
For seeing the Northern Lights, one should travel to Alaska, or maybe to Iceland, known as the "Land of the Midnight Sun" for the great deal of nightly luminance there.
Scientific Explanation
The effect is caused the interaction between the solar wind, the Earth's magnetic field and the upper atmosphere. Solar wind is composed of charged particles, so the glancing particles in the particularly strong area of the magnetic field creates what seems like an electrical fireworks display.[1]