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Nasa scientists have discovered what they think causes the Northern Lights, the dramatic, colourful displays seen in the sky seen near the Earth's poles. After a year of studying the mysterious phenomenon, researchers say explosions of magnetic energy occurring about one-third of the way to the moon are responsible for the lights, known as auroras. Nasa say explosions of magnetic energy occurring about one-third of the way to the moon are responsible for the lights, known as auroras Researchers used a network of five Nasa satellites on a mission dubbed Themis to observe a geomagnetic storm in February. They correlated...

Scientists think they have discovered the energy source of auroras borealis, the spectacular color displays seen in the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere. New data from NASA's Themis mission, a quintet of satellites launched this winter, found the energy comes from a stream of charged particles from the sun flowing like a current through twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting Earth's upper atmosphere to the sun. The energy is then abruptly released in the form of a shimmering display of lights, said principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California at Los Angeles. Results were presented Tuesday at...

SAN FRANCISCO - Scientists think they have discovered the energy source of the spectacular color displays seen in the northern lights. New data from NASA's Themis mission, a quintet of satellites launched this winter, found the energy comes from a stream of charged particles from the sun flowing like a current through twisted bundles of magnetic fields connecting Earth's upper atmosphere to the sun. The energy is then abruptly released in the form of a shimmering display of lights visible in the upper latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere, said principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos of the University of California, Los Angeles....

Updated: 06:15 UTC on 13 December 2006 Solar Terrestrial Dispatch www.spacew.com VALID BEGINNING AT: 00:00 UTC ON 14 DECEMBER VALID UNTIL: 23:00 UTC (5 pm EDT) ON 15 DECEMBER HIGH RISK PERIOD: 14 DECEMBER (UTC DAYS) MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 14 - 15 DECEMBER PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 15, 70, 30, 15 (13 - 16 DECEMBER) POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: HIGH POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 12 HOURS MINOR BELT = 12-24 HOURS ESTIMATED OPTIMUM OBSERVING CONDITIONS: NEAR AND AFTER LOCAL MIDNIGHT EXPECTED LUNAR INTERFERENCE: MODERATE AFTER LOCAL MIDNIGHT OVERALL OPPORTUNITY FOR OBSERVATIONS FROM MIDDLE LATITUDES:...

SAN FRANCISCO - Earth's north magnetic pole is drifting away from North America and toward Siberia at such a clip that Alaska might lose its spectacular Northern Lights in the next 50 years, scientists said Thursday. Despite accelerated movement over the past century, the possibility that Earth's modestly fading magnetic field will collapse is remote. But the shift could mean Alaska may no longer see the sky lights known as auroras, which might then be more visible in more southerly areas of Siberia and Europe. The magnetic poles are part of the magnetic field generated by liquid iron in Earth's...

After some 400 years of relative stability, Earth's North Magnetic Pole has moved nearly 1,100 kilometers out into the Arctic Ocean during the last century and at its present rate could move from northern Canada to Siberia within the next half-century. If that happens, Alaska may be in danger of losing one of its most stunning natural phenomena - the Northern Lights. But the surprisingly rapid movement of the magnetic pole doesn't necessarily mean that our planet is going through a large-scale change that would result in the reversal of the Earth's magnetic field, Oregon State University paleomagnetist Joseph Stoner...

SAN FRANCISCO -- Earth's north magnetic pole is drifting from North America at such a clip that it could end up in Siberia in the next 50 years, scientists said Thursday. Despite accelerated movement over the past century, the possibility that Earth's fading magnetic field will collapse or that the magnetic poles will flip is remote. But the shift could mean that Alaska may no longer be able to see the high-altitude shimmering displays of colorful lights called the aurora borealis, or northern lights. Scientists have long known that magnetic poles migrate and in rare cases, swap places. But exactly

January 2005 Aurora Gallery back to spaceweather.com Summary: On January 7th, the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth tipped south, sparking a brief but strong geomagnetic storm. Activity increased again on Jan. 17th when a coronal mass ejection (CME) hit Earth's magnetc field. The CME was hurled into space by an X-flare from giant sunspot 720. [See also the November 2004 aurora gallery.]

Northern lights The aurora borealis lights up the night sky north of Dunkerton, Iowa, on Nov. 7. (AP/Waterloo Courier, Brandon Pollock) Update: There's been a new X-class coronal mass ejection on the sun, according to our astronomer Dan Joyce. It occurred late Sunday and was more intense than the M-class flare on Saturday ultimately responsible for Sunday night's auroras. Dan tells me this might signal a new round of auroral displays Tuesday night—and doesn't rule out some northern lights tonight either—athough he thinks Tuesday night presents the best chance for additional auroras, if they're going to occur. I had a...

A magnetic storm provided some breathtaking views in certain parts of western Pennsylvania Thursday night. Aurora borealis, commonly known as "Northern Lights," lit up the sky with a red glow. According to the DeNardo Weather team, auroras appear when Earth's magnetic field vibrates in response to a solar wind gust. People on the ground are protected from any danger by a magnetic bubble around Earth called the "magnetosphere." Visit spaceweather.com for more information about auroras.

An unusually active Sun has professional astronomers amazed while amateurs revel in backyard sightings of two Jupiter-sized sunspots. Meanwhile, a heavy dose of space weather buffeted Earth just before Noon ET today, and another storm is on the way. Forecasters said the stormy weather could disrupt satellite communications and poses a threat to power grids on Earth. The active Sun also presents a nice opportunity for anyone to view sunspots, though safe viewing techniques must be employed to prevent eye damage. The first storm of charged particles was unleashed by a dark region on the solar surface called Sunspot 484....

MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY WARNING ISSUED: 04:50 UTC, 17 AUGUST 2002 *** POTENTIAL FOR MODERATE TO HIGH ACTIVITY EXISTS *** For North Americans, begin watching during the evening and post-midnight early-morning hours of Saturday, 17/18 August. VALID BEGINNING AT: 12:00 UTC, 17 AUGUST VALID UNTIL: 19:00 UTC ON 19 AUGUST HIGH RISK PERIOD: 17 - 18 AUGUST (UTC DAYS) MODERATE RISK PERIOD: 17 - 19 AUGUST PREDICTED ACTIVITY INDICES: 23, 60, 20, 12 (17 AUG - 20 AUG) POTENTIAL MAGNITUDE OF MIDDLE LATITUDE AURORAL ACTIVITY: MODERATE TO HIGH POTENTIAL DURATION OF THIS ACTIVITY: MAIN BELT = 6 TO 12 HOURS...