Auroral rocket observed flow of heat, particles and electromagnetic energy
Thursday, January 6, 2011 - 11:40
in Astronomy & Space
The aurora borealis and aurora australisthe northern and southern lightsare visible manifestations of a connection between the Sun and Earth. Blasts of energy and magnetically charged particles from the Sun are constantly flowing out into space and crashing into the magnetic fields of Earth and other planets. At Earth, that energy stirs up the particles and energy trapped in Earths space, or magnetosphere, creating the auroras and disturbing the upper reaches of our atmosphere.