SEMINAR
I NATURVITENSKAP
TORSDAG 11. MARS
2004
Rom A – 204,
kl. 14.15
Gabrielle Provan
University of
Leicester.
Nordlys
‘Aurora
Borealis’ meaning ‘dawn of the north’ was a term believed to have been coined
by Galileo Galilei to name the brilliant curtains of light, or ‘northern
lights’ which are to be found in the northern hemisphere. Later on as the southern polar regions of
the Earth were explored, ‘southern lights’ were discovered and named ‘Aurora
Australis’.
The Northern
lights are caused by charged particles emanating from the Sun and interacting
with the Earth’s upper atmosphere. This
seminar will aim to give a detailed explanation of the science behind this
fascinating process, describing the structure of the Earth’s magnetic field,
the interaction between the Earth’s magnetic field and the interplanetary
magnetic field, and how particles from the solar wind enter the Earth’s upper
atmosphere. I will discuss the large
sun storms that occurred last year, and their possible effect on human
activity.