Watch: NASA creates fake northern lights Posted on 17 April 2019 Tags:Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights, Norway The aurora borealis or northern lights can be seen over polar skies on dark nights between August and April, but tend to be more prolific during equinoxes in March and September. The shimmering sheets of light can look peaceful, but according to NASA, the spellbinding, colourful lights ‘are the product of violent collisions between Earth’s atmosphere and particles from the Sun’. Last week, residents of Northern Norway got to view artificially-created aurora borealis as part of a NASA-funded experiment. In an attempt to understand the contribution that the aurora make to the total amount of energy that enters and leaves Earth’s geospace system (invisible kinetic and thermal energy is released by the collisions), the Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment or AZURE was established. Time-lapse of @nasa AZURE mission launching 2 sounding rockets from @AndoyaSpace about 4 hours ago. They created glowing clouds (background is real aurora) to study and track the flow of particles in the ionosphere @NASA_Wallops @TamithaSkov @StormHour @chunder10 @B_Ubiquitous pic.twitter.com/sFiCCP9LdY — Adrien Mauduit (@ADphotography24) April 6, 2019 NASA launched two sounding rockets on the night of Friday, 6 April from the Andøya Space Center in Norway to create these artificial auroras. The impressive sight of purple and blue lights in unusual circular patterns was viewed by only a handful of people, but thanks to social media you can see them too. The AZURE mission successfully launched back-to-back aboard two sounding rockets in Norway tonight. These colorful clouds created a light show in the sky, helping researchers track the flow of neutral and charged particles in Earth’s ionosphere. Details: https://t.co/aAp7FJDPgk. pic.twitter.com/vCZ3wFzzBo — NASA Wallops (@NASA_Wallops) April 5, 2019 A natural aurora borealis is shown below. Northern Lights, Lofoten, Norway. Image credit: Johannes Groll Feature image: NASA Wallops Related Posts Cape Town’s sustainability: Leading the way in environmental initiatives 1 June 2023 As National Environmental Month commences in South Africa, Cape Town stands proudly at the forefront... read more Kapama to host Safari Guide of the Year Awards 2023 1 June 2023 Kapama Private Game Reserve near Hoedspruit will host this year’s Safari Guide of the Year... read more Blood Lions relaunches for public viewing on YouTube 1 June 2023 Award-winning documentary feature film Blood Lions has been relaunched on YouTube for public viewing, creating... read more PREV ARTICLE NEXT ARTICLE
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