http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/northern_lights/ Northern Lights. Read the latest news on aurora borialis. See images of the Northern Lights, including some taken from space. en-us Mon, 12 May 2008 10:05:01 EDT Mon, 12 May 2008 10:05:01 EDT 60 http://www.sciencedaily.com/images/logosmall.gif http://www.sciencedaily.com/news/space_time/northern_lights/ For more science articles, visit ScienceDaily. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080306161746.htm What are the signs of spring? They are as familiar as a blooming daffodil, a songbird at dawn, a surprising shaft of warmth from the afternoon sun. And, oh yes, don't forget the aurora borealis. Spring is aurora season. For reasons not fully understood by scientists, the weeks around the vernal equinox are prone to Northern Lights. Canadians walking their dogs after dinner, Scandinavians popping out to the sauna, Alaskan Huskies on the Iditarod trail -- all they have to do is look up and behold, green curtains of light dancing across the night sky. Spring has arrived! This is a bit of a puzzle. Auroras are caused by solar activity, but the sun doesn't know what season it is on Earth. So how could one season yield more auroras than another? Mon, 10 Mar 2008 23:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/03/080306161746.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071001145018.htm A NASA satellite has captured the first images of a collision between a comet and a solar hurricane. It is the first time scientists have witnessed such an event on another cosmic body. Mon, 01 Oct 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071001145018.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070427131848.htm The next 11-year cycle of solar storms will most likely start next March and peak in late 2011 or mid-2012 -- up to a year later than expected -- according to a forecast recently issued by NOAA's Space Environment Center, in coordination with an international panel of solar experts. Expected to begin last fall, the delayed onset of Solar Cycle 24 stymied the panel and left them evenly split over the cycle's intensity. Fri, 27 Apr 2007 20:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/04/070427131848.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070220003731.htm Although very close to the minimum of its 11-year sunspot cycle, the Sun showed that it is still capable of producing a series of remarkably energetic outbursts - ESA-NASA Ulysses mission revealed. Tue, 20 Feb 2007 14:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/02/070220003731.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051229111209.htm In an unusual observation, a team of scientists has scanned the northern polar region of Earth with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory. The results show that the aurora borealis, or "northern lights," also dance in X-ray light, creating changing bright arcs of X-ray energy above the Earth's surface. Mon, 02 Jan 2006 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/12/051229111209.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050309125435.htm Scientists have obtained new insight into the unique power source for many of Jupiter's auroras, the most spectacular and active auroras in the Solar System. Extended monitoring of the giant planet with NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory detected the presence of highly charged particles crashing into the atmosphere above its poles. Sun, 20 Mar 2005 08:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/03/050309125435.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050223123045.htm Just as the static on an AM radio grows louder with the approach of a summer lightning storm, strong radio emissions accompany bright auroral spots -- similar to Earth's northern lights -- on the planet Saturn, according to new research. Fri, 04 Mar 2005 05:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050223123045.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050218160928.htm Scientists studying data from NASA's Cassini spacecraft and Hubble Space Telescope have found that Saturn's auroras behave differently than scientists have believed for the last 25 years. Mon, 28 Feb 2005 02:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/02/050218160928.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041117005311.htm A spot on the sun is bursting with large flares and tremendous coronal mass ejections, sending charged solar particles to Earth. The waves of particles descending on the planet are responsible for the aurora displays that have been visible as far south as the Carolinas. Wed, 17 Nov 2004 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/11/041117005311.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040709082235.htm A fleet of spacecraft dispersed throughout the solar system gave the best picture to date of the effects of blast waves from solar storms as they propagate through the solar system. Fri, 09 Jul 2004 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/07/040709082235.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031205052200.htm Immense cracks in Earth's magnetic field remain open for hours, allowing the solar wind to gush through and power stormy space weather, according to new observations from NASA's IMAGE spacecraft and the joint NASA/European Space Agency (ESA) Cluster satellites. Fri, 05 Dec 2003 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/12/031205052200.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031107060735.htm It has just been announced that the massive solar X-ray flare which occurred on 4 November was, at best estimate, an X28. There is still a small chance this will be revised by a small amount, but it is now official: We have a new number 1 X-ray flare for the record books, the most powerful in recorded observational history. Fri, 07 Nov 2003 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/11/031107060735.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031027061940.htm Newly uncovered scientific data of recorded history's most massive space storm is helping a NASA scientist investigate its intensity and the probability that what occurred on Earth and in the heavens almost a century-and-a-half ago could happen again. Mon, 27 Oct 2003 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031027061940.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/07/030721084713.htm The sun's big, bright, explosive flares are the attention grabbers, but tiny, more numerous microflares may have nearly as much influence on the solar atmosphere, according to new data from the University of California, Berkeley's RHESSI satellite. Mon, 21 Jul 2003 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/07/030721084713.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030211072446.htm Solar physicists at the Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London (MSSL-UCL) have discovered new clues to understanding explosions on the Sun. Tue, 11 Feb 2003 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/02/030211072446.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/09/020925065540.htm Over the next decade, forecasts of spectacular northern lights and other solar-generated events will become as commonplace as today's thunderstorm predictions, say scientists meeting this week in Boston to plan the first five years of accelerated space weather research. To aid the effort, the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) will provide a computer model of Earth's upper atmosphere and unique information on solar dynamics, both from NCAR's High Altitude Observatory. Wed, 25 Sep 2002 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/09/020925065540.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/05/020510075603.htm New observations from a NASA spacecraft reveal that a layer in the Earth's outer atmosphere acts like a heat shield by absorbing energy from space storms, which reduces their ability to heat the lower atmosphere. However, it imposes a heavy toll for its services by creating a billion-degree cloud of electrified gas, or plasma, that surrounds our planet. The plasma cloud is so ferociously hot, its particles act like radiation, occasionally disrupting satellites in mid to high orbits. This discovery from NASA's Imager for Magnetopause to Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE) spacecraft confirms that the Earth actively participates in space storms. Mon, 13 May 2002 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/05/020510075603.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/04/010412082102.htm An angry Sun fired off another powerful X-class flare Tuesday, April 10. X-class flares are the most powerful classification, and this flare, rated X-2, was the most recent in a series that included one of the most powerful solar blasts in 25 years. Thu, 12 Apr 2001 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/04/010412082102.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/04/010404081121.htm The Sun blasted one of its largest flares in 25 years from the same region harboring the largest sunspot of the current solar cycle Monday evening. The region, designated active region 9393, has continued to rotate with the Sun and is no longer in line with the Earth, so most of the flare's energy was directed away from our planet. Wed, 04 Apr 2001 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/04/010404081121.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010330224946.htm A huge sunspot, thirteen-times larger than the surface area of the Earth and growing, has now rotated with the Sun to face our planet. The sunspot, which is the largest of the current solar cycle, is also the largest to appear in a decade. Fri, 30 Mar 2001 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010330224946.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010328074635.htm Fast-moving solar eruptions apparently overtake and often devour their slower kin. This discovery was made by a team of astronomers working with tandem NASA spacecraft. Solar eruptions directed toward Earth are potentially harmful to advanced technology, including communications and power systems, and this cannibalistic behavior may result in longer magnetic storms. Wed, 28 Mar 2001 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010328074635.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010316071959.htm Among the first pictures captured by the Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration, or IMAGE, satellite, launched a year ago to study the Earth's magnetic shield, is the first global view of the double aurora - the pretty curlicues and shimmering curtains of the electron aurora and the more diffuse proton aurora. Tue, 20 Mar 2001 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010316071959.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000621074520.htm The arrival from the Sun of billion-ton electrified-gas clouds that cause severe space storms can now be predicted to within a half-day, a great improvement over the best previous estimates of two to five days. Wed, 21 Jun 2000 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000621074520.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000609010023.htm The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is bracing for the likely arrival of a major geomagnetic storm and possible auroral activity over the next few days. While it is geomagnetic storms that give rise to the beautiful Northern lights, they can also pose a serious threat for commercial and military satellite operators, power companies, astronauts, and they can even shorten the life of oil pipelines in Alaska by increasing pipeline corrosion. Fri, 09 Jun 2000 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000609010023.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000602075545.htm Three-dimensional images of magnetic storms from the Sun, developed by physicists at the University of California, San Diego and Japan’s Nagoya University, are allowing space-weather forecasters to improve their predictions of solar disruptions on cycle. Mon, 05 Jun 2000 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/06/000602075545.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/04/000404122024.htm Scientists have discovered that some CMEs are caused by solar flares not directly under them. Shock waves from the flares cross an interconnecting loop of solar material, causing it to eject hot X-rays that form a major part of the CME. Wed, 05 Apr 2000 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2000/04/000404122024.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/06/990603071337.htm Blobs of electrified particles spew violently from the Sun, zoom at "warp speed" toward Earth's magnetic field, and trigger an unusual form of aurora, scientists have discovered using an ultraviolet camera on NASA's Polar spacecraft. Thu, 03 Jun 1999 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/06/990603071337.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/11/981117080529.htm A new imaging spectrometer developed at the University of Illinois will assist scientists who are studying auroras and their effects upon Earth's atmosphere. By discerning spectral characteristics of auroral emissions as a function of altitude, the instrument will aid in the verification and refinement of atmospheric chemistry models. Tue, 17 Nov 1998 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/11/981117080529.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/11/981104075607.htm A new imaging spectrometer developed at the University of Illinois will assist scientists who are studying auroras and their effects upon Earth's atmosphere. By discerning spectral characteristics of auroral emissions as a function of altitude, the instrument will aid in the verification and refinement of atmospheric chemistry models. Wed, 04 Nov 1998 00:00:00 EST http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/11/981104075607.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/09/980928072950.htm Rice University scientists report that a major geomagnetic storm began late on Sept. 24 and was continuing as of last Thursday. Intense auroral displays (the northern and southern lights) associated with the storm were reported at least as far south as Milwaukee. Mon, 28 Sep 1998 00:00:00 EDT http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/09/980928072950.htm