AURORA AUSTRALIS

Posted By R. Ann Siracusa

Soon it will be that time of year. Many of us will be putting up outdoor lights and decorating our homes. We all like to see the pretty lights during the Holiday Season. They're cheerful and beautiful (and probably use a lot of energy). But we love them.

But one of the most spectacular display of lights is a natural phenomenon and doesn't add anything to the electric bill—if you live in one of the auroral zones of the world.

Aurora Borealis

AURORAS

An aurora is a natural light display in the sky. The word comes from the Latin word meaning sunrise, also the name of the Roman goddess of dawn. The aurora borealis (northern lights) were named after the goddess Aurora and the Greek name for north wind (Boreas) by Galileo in 1619. I wondered if Galileo actually traveled to the north to see them, but didn't go into it. Later, I found a reference that they were named by a French Astronomer in the 1500s.

After reading several incredibly technical descriptions of what causes them, I settled on the simplest from Wikipedia which says that auroras are "...caused by the collision of solar wind and magnetospheric charged particles with the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere)."

They appear as curtains or sheets of light or as a diffuse glow.

AURORA AUSTRALIS

I think I am going to name my next heroine after the southern lights: Aurora Australis. The aurora australis are seen near the south pole in the southern hemisphere. The word australis is the Greek word for south.

They are strongest in an oval around the south magnetic pole and not often seen in populated areas, although I found photos taken in Tasmania and Australia. Increased solar activity sometimes increases visibility from more distant locations.

 

Auroral displays are more common near the equinoxes, but this doesn't mean they won't occur at any other time. From the Southern polar region, displays occur between March and September. The rest of the year the pole experiences 24 hours of daylight. In fact, right at the South Pole the is one sunset and one sunrise per year.

BUCKET LIST

Seeing either the aurora borealis or the aurora australis is definitely on my bucket list. However, I'm going to Antarctica at the wrong time of year.

Darn. Maybe I'll be lucky and there will be some sort of electromagnetic storm.

If you want to see the display, you need to plan your trip accordingly.

Resources
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora|
http://planetfacts.org/aurora-australis/
http://www.universetoday.com/42623/aurora-australis/
http://vimeo.com/35630244
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=1346
https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AwrSnJ_dbjRUC1oApGBPmolQ?qid=20120422124934AADciCP
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/tierra_hueca/esp_tierra_hueca_24.htm
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