Eternal Beauty: Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis

When I see some photos of aurora I think it is amazing, it is so beautiful when the lights in the sky, how wonderful of aurora is a nature to people lived in the earth, people even travel thousands of miles just to see the brilliant light shows in the earth's atmosphere. We would smile on this nature and praise to God for this gift to us. Aurora will happen in northern hemisphere and southern hemisphere, they are aurora borealis (the Northern Lights) and the aurora australis (the Southern Lights). We can see aurora in the clear and darkness sky by the time of sunrise and sunset, people would see aurora from dusk to dawn throughout the night, so the best way is watching around the midnight, aurora happens in three to four hours. The northern hemisphere has winter and the darkness, which is essential to see the aurora, the South Pole has bright daylight all day long.

So the only time to watch southern lights in Antarctica is during fall and spring. The best places to watch aurora are high northern latitudes during the winter in Alaska, Canada, and Skandinavia.

What causes the aurora?

It is energetic charged particles from the magnetosphere. Definitely aurora is precipitating energetic particles which are electrons and protons that are energized in the near geospace environment. This energization process draws its energy from the interaction of the Earth’s magnetosphere with the solar wind.

The auroras both surrounding the north magnetic pole (aurora borealis) and south magnetic pole (aurora australis) occur when highly charged electrons from the solar wind interact with elements in the earth's atmosphere. Solar winds stream away from the sun at speeds of about 1 million miles per hour. When they reach the earth, some 40 hours after leaving the sun, they follow the lines of magnetic force generated by the earth's core and flow through the magnetosphere, a teardrop-shaped area of highly charged electrical and magnetic fields.

As the electrons enter the earth's upper atmosphere, they will encounter atoms of oxygen and nitrogen at altitudes from 20 to 200 miles above the earth's surface. The color of the aurora depends on which atom is struck, and the altitude of the meeting.

Green - oxygen, up to 150 miles in altitude

Red - oxygen, above 150 miles in altitude

Blue - nitrogen, up to 60 miles in altitude

Purple/violet - nitrogen, above 60 miles in altitudeb

Photographic film has a different sensitivity to colors than the eye, therefore you often see more red aurora on photos than with the unaided eye. Since there is more atomic oxygen at high altitudes, the red aurora tends to be on top of the regular green aurora. The colors that we see are a mixture of all the auroral emissions. Just like the white sunlight is a mixture of the colors of the rainbow, the aurora is a mixture of colors. The overall impression is a greenish-whitish glow. Very intense aurora gets a purple edge at the bottom. The purple is a mixture of blue and red emissions from nitrogen molecules.All of the magnetic and electrical forces react with one another in constantly shifting combinations. These shifts and flows can be seen as the auroras "dance," moving along with the atmospheric currents that can reach 20,000,000 amperes at 50,000 volts. (In contrast, the circuit breakers in your home will disengage when current flow exceeds 15-30 amperes at 120 volts.)

The auroras generally occur along the "auroral ovals," which center on the magnetic poles (not the geographic poles) and roughly correspond with the Arctic and Antarctic circles. There are times, though, when the lights are farther south, usually when there are a lot of sunspots. Sunspot activity follows an 11-year cycle.

The next peak will occur in 2011 and 2012, so opportunities to see auroras outside their normal range should be good. Why don’t spend time to see this natural phenomenon when our life is short? Why don’t spend time to love nature when it is here for you? Why don’t spend time to relax when it is valuable? Auroras has always fascinated mankind, It is mirable and incredible, deeply impression in our heart. I could imagine how beautiful of its dancing in the sky, that is no regret to live in the earth and never forget it. Let us to keep the world greatest beauty to enjoy our life, to relax our soul, to breath in fresh air. Fellow protect Nature, just do it now !