1.

Baiq Ulfah Febriani (06)

2. Hilyana (15)
3. M. Alvin Na’ami ()
4. Munawir ()
5. Ratna Tanila C.H ()
 Aurora Borealis
For many years people have wondered just what the Northern Lights were.
People believe that they are elementary particle physics, superstition,
mythology and fairy tales. The Northern Lights or Auroras, are nature’s light
shows. They have filled people with wondered and have inspired artists, and
they have also frightened people to think that the end is near. More exact
explanations of these phenomenon could not be given until modern particle
physics were developed, and knowledge about the Earth’s magnetosphere
has been based on measurements from satellites.
 What causes Northern Lights?
The Sun throws out particles, from its surface, far out into space.
These particles are called “Solar Winds,” and cause the Northern
lights.
What was once hydrogen becomes a gas of free electrons and
protons called plasma. This plasma escapes from the Sun’s
atmosphere through a hole in the Sun’s magnetic field. As they
escape, they are thrown out by the rotation of the sun in a
continuous spiral. This is called the garden-hose effect. The names
comes from the pattern of water droplets that form if we were to
swing a hose around and around, above our heads.
When the northern lights break out, this is what happens. The solar winds
strengthen and the magnetic tail becomes unstable. Charged particles move
inward towards the center of the tail and cause it to increase in length and to
taper. The particles draw the magnetic field lines toward the center where
they meet causing a magnetic “short-circuit” about fifteen times the earth’s
radius above the earth on the night side. This happens at the “dynamo’s”
outer circuit.
September and March are the most frequent months for auroras and January
and July the least likely. Most of the solar activity comes from regions of the
sun outside the solar equatorial band +/- 10 degrees to either side of the solar
equator. The Earth in it’s orbit is inside this equatorial band during January
and July, and when it is at it’s maximum in September and March, the Earth
is in the zone of solar activity