020 Aurora - Northern Lights

Auroras, Northern or Southern Lights are a spectacular phenomenon that attract a large number of tourists to the polar areas. They were known since antiquity but the phenomenon was attibuted to supernatural powers. In fact they form in a circle around the magnetic poles when the charged elementary particles in the solar wind are captured byt the magnetic field of the earth and are directed towards the upper levels of the atmosphere and ionize elementary gasses like hydrogen and oxygen. The probability of Auroras apperaring in the sky can be predicted by analyzing the variations in the solar wind and in the magnetic field of the Earth. Auroras have been observed also on other planets. in the solar system. Real time aurora on video. Chris' Aurora photo from the ship.