The Science of the Aurora | BBC Sky at Night Magazine

The Science of the Aurora | BBC Sky at Night Magazine

The aurora are set to be at their best in the next few years, but what creates the light show in the first place?

Join us as we talk with aurora expert Melanie Windridge in Episode 2 of our Aurora special series of Star Diary podcast, from the makers of Sky at Night Magazine.

Melanie Windridge is a British plasma physicist and science communicator best known for her book Aurora: In Search of the Northern Lights.

On Earth, auroras are mainly created by particles originally emitted by the Sun in the form of solar wind. When this stream of electrically charged particles gets close to our planet, it interacts with the magnetic field, which acts as a gigantic shield. While it protects Earth’s environment from solar wind particles, it can also trap a small fraction of them. Particles trapped within the magnetosphere—the region of space surrounding Earth in which charged particles are affected by its magnetic field—can be energized and then follow the magnetic field lines down to the magnetic poles. There, they interact with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, creating the flickering, colorful lights visible in the polar regions here on Earth.

Earth auroras have different names depending on which pole they occur at. Aurora Borealis, or the northern lights, is the name given to auroras around the north pole and Aurora Australis, or the southern lights, is the name given for auroras around the south pole.

Video Credit: BBC Sky at Night Magazine

Duration: 26 minutes

Release Date: Oct. 10, 2024

#NASA #Space #Astronomy #Science #Sun #Star #CME #Earth #Aurora #AuroraBorealis #NorthernLights #AuroraAustralis #SouthernLights #Skywatching #Cosmos #Universe #SolarSystem #BBC #Podcast #STEM #Education