That, Mr Worf, is magnificent. Thank you for the view. On Thu, Jun 24, 2010 at 2:41 AM, Mr. Worf <hellomahog...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > > Spectacular Aurora Ribbon Photographed by Astronaut : Big Pic > <http://omnikool.discovery.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/news.discovery.com/space/big-pic-space-station-aurora-australis.html/1404608563/Top3/default/empty.gif/5252614b44557667572b514141356c39?x> > [image: Credit: > NASA]<http://news.discovery.com/space/aurora-northern-lights-space-phenomena.html> > > *June 21, 2010 --* This spectacular photograph shows a snaking aurora over > the Southern Hemisphere as the International Space Station (ISS) orbits > overhead. It occurred during a geomagnetic storm, likely caused by a > coronal mass ejection > (CME)<http://news.discovery.com/space/boom-the-sun-unleashes-a-huge-cme.html>slamming > into our planet's magnetosphere. > > *SLIDE SHOW: What is the Aurora > Borealis?<http://news.discovery.com/space/aurora-northern-lights-space-phenomena.html> > * > > [image: weather] > *WATCH VIDEO: NASA and ESA astronomers released movies of Saturn's > northern and southern lights, glimpsed edge-on for the first time by the > Hubble Space > Telescope.*<http://news.discovery.com/videos/space-hubble-captures-saturns-aurorae.html> > > The ISS was passing over the Southern Indian Ocean at an altitude of 350 > kilometers (or 220 miles) meaning this is the "aurora australis" -- aurorae > that occur near the South Pole. The aurora borealis occurs near the North > Pole <http://news.discovery.com/earth/iceland-volcano-aurora.html>. The > space station astronaut was pointing the camera toward Antarctica at the > time. > > Aurorae occur when energetic particles from the sun -- carried by the solar > wind or a solar ejection -- flood into the Earth's magnetic > field<http://news.discovery.com/space-weather/>. > The particles (mainly protons) are then funneled into the polar regions, > where the magnetic field lines feed into the Earth's surface. As the > particles fall toward the surface they hit atmospheric gasses. When they > collide, light is emitted, producing aurorae. > > In this case, the aurora is dominated with green light. This means the > atmospheric oxygen is glowing under the onslaught of solar particles. The > light show is most likely located between 100-300 kilometers (60-190 miles) > up, inside the Earth's ionosphere. > > > -- > Celebrating 10 years of bringing diversity to perversity! > Mahogany at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/mahogany_pleasures_of_darkness/ > > -- "If all the world's a stage and we are merely players, who the bloody hell wrote the script?" -- Charles E Grant http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQUxw9aUVik
