Posts
Aurora Borealis: Nature Lights Up the Skies
All it takes is for the earth to have an atmosphere and the sun to eject ions at speeds up to 1200 km/second then BAM! You’ve got some unbelievable mother nature action. Imagine what people must have thought, thousands of years ago, when they saw these streams and swirls of light and color in the evening sky. Watching this spectacular celestial phenomena today, for that matter, is beyond spectacular.[ Warning: Lots of images. Please allow for images to load. ]
Aurora happens in both the southern and northern hemispheres, particularly in the polar zone. It is called Aurora Borealis (also known as Northern Lights) in the Artic region and Aurora Australis in the Antartic region. Streaming plasma clouds, composed of fast moving charged particles, form a solar wind. It is the tangential interaction of the solar wind with the earth’s magnetic field that traps some of these charged particles. These trapped particles then flow along the magnetic field lines of the earth into the upper most regions of our planet’s atmosphere. That’s when the lights become manifest and their dance begins.
Schematic of Earth's magnetosphere
Aurora australis captured from space by NASA's IMAGE satellite.
Aurora australis as seen from a Space Shuttle
Aurora Borealis seen from the International Space Station (ISS)
The Northern Lights shine above Bear Lake, Alaska, US
Panoramic photograph from Edison, New Jersey, US
Red and green Aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska, US
Aurora Australis appearing in Swifts Creek, Australia
Green Aurora Over Lake Superior, Canada
Aurora Borealis as seen over Canada at 11,000m (36,000 feet)
Aurora sightings in Oklahoma City, US
Northern Lights over a house in Iceland
Aurora seen at night in Scotland, UK
Aurora over Arena, Wisconsin, US
View of the Aurora and Comet Hale-Bopp over Boston, US
Purple Aurora in Flambeau Lake, Wisconsin, US
Another one from Flambeau Lake, Wisconsin, US
Aurora Borealis with Orion, Unknown location
Missing information, Unknown location
Missing information, Unknown location
Missing information, Unknown location
Northern Lights - Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, Canada.
(Credit: National Geographic via Dark Roasted Blend) Photo by Kyle Anderson.
VIDEOS
Aurora Borealis from Space
Aurora display in British Columbia, Canada
Second part of the time lapse video above
Aurora Borealis as seen from Vestby, Norway
This one is from Northern Wisconsin, US
Finally, one from the International Space Station (ISS)
This post was written by Jennifer Hitchcock from Life of a School Bus Driver. Images and videos collected by Ilker Yoldas from these sources: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11. If you are interested in contributing to the thinking process and become a guest writer on The Thinking Blog, find out more information here and be my guest!
25 thoughts:
All I can say is Wow! So beautiful. Thanks for sharing these!
A truly magnificent sight. As Barbra Streisand would sing, "On a clear day, you can see Foreverrrrrrr
jon
I also wanted to thank you for sharing such great images. The Northern Lights are on my list of things to experience, thanks for the preview.
Be well and enjoy the day
Beautiful pictures. Thanks for sharing.
I don't have a blogger account so I'll leave my url below so you know who I am.
Debbie
http://www.ILoveToCheatDiet.com/blog
I don't live far enough north to see this kind of thing fully, but I have seen it as a very feint glow in the sky.
It's one of those things best seen in person, Like laying on your back in a field somewhere in the middle of the night and looking into the sky to see the stars and the Milky Way.
Amazing...
One of the best examples of Nature's genius that I can think of. Eerie and beautiful at the same time. Thanks for putting these together and sharing them. You also did an admirable job at summarizing the phenonomenon. :) I've tagged this post and will link to my next post.
Praise be to God, what magical beauty! Thanks for putting up those facts and images all in one place-its brilliant.
If you enjoy watching animated series then have a look at this video for a laugh:
The Simpsons - Aurora Borealis!?
LOL! Really funny =)
Thanks for providing such vivid images Ilker! I gave your post a "thumbs up" on Stumble-Upon!
Make it a great day!
That is really amazing.. wish I could see something that pretty in person. I know I could just look at myself at the mirror but I have to be honest, those skies are prettier :P
Once or twice a year, usually late in the summer, you can get a good look at Aurora Borealis in action from my home in Michigan. It sit outside all night when it happens.
Thanks Daniel.
Have you seen the pictures on How Supermassive Black Holes Merge post?
Lot of Amazing pictures and great info.
Vote for this story at http://www.bestofindya.com/news/story.php?title=the_thinking_blog_Aurora_Nature_Lights_Up_The_Skies
Dear
Its a nice experience to watch it !!! thanxs for beautifullness!!!
Cool!
Great pics and post!
Cool collection! and interesting nature phenomenon!
Digital Photography News,Forum, Contests - http://www.shotaddict.com/wordpress
Stunning Pics, really dont compare to seeing it for real though, been photographing it in northern scotland for last 5 years but still cant take one as amazing as seeing it for real!
the videos from space are amazing. If Virgin gets to create space trips for cheap, now that would be some sight!
Beautiful images. Well done and thank you.
I am feeling like dejavu...I had to have seen the lights at some point but I am not sure...well maybe I was just dreaming I saw them.
I really want to see them some day.
Och, really nice pics
These pictures are wonderful, thank you so very much ...one day I intend to see them for myself
nice page, i linked it on my site
check my last northern lights video from Tromsø (feel free to embed it)
[url=http://firgonbares.net/][img]http://firgonbares.net/img-add/euro2.jpg[/img][/url]
[b]enabling form editor adobe acrobat 9, [url=http://firgonbares.net/]office 2007 enterprise advantage crack[/url]
[url=http://firgonbares.net/][/url] winzip 12 serial cheap education software
university student software discount [url=http://firgonbares.net/]lowest price software[/url] software training in canada
[url=http://firgonbares.net/]software store australia[/url] software stores london
[url=http://firgonbares.net/]need to purchase software[/url] kaspersky
office 2003 oem software [url=http://firgonbares.net/]adobe photoshop cs4 key[/b]
What do you think? Post your thoughts..