{"id":295450,"date":"2024-05-13T17:19:54","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T11:49:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/?p=295450"},"modified":"2024-05-13T17:19:54","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T11:49:54","slug":"auroras","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/auroras\/","title":{"rendered":"Auroras"},"content":{"rendered":"

Source-This post on Auroras<\/strong> is based on the article “Aurora Borealis: What are northern and southern lights? Why do they occur?” <\/a><\/strong>published in \u201cThe Indian Express\u201d on 12th May 2024.<\/p>\n

Why in the News?<\/h2>\n

A powerful solar storm recently caused a dazzling array of colors to light up the skies in several locations worldwide.<\/p>\n

About Auroras<\/h2>\n
\"Auroral\"
Source: The Indian Express<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1. About Auroras:<\/strong> They are natural phenomena characterized by bright, swirling curtains of light that illuminate the night sky. <\/span><\/p>\n

i) These dazzling displays manifest in various colours, including blue, red, yellow, green, and orange. <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ii) It is termed aurora borealis in the north<\/span> and aurora Australis in the south.<\/span> They primarily occur near the poles but can occasionally extend to lower latitudes.<\/span><\/p>\n

2. Causes of Auroras:<\/strong> Auroras stem from solar activity, particularly from the surface of the Sun.<\/p>\n

i) The Sun emits a continuous stream of charged particles, predominantly electrons and protons, known as the solar wind.<\/span><\/p>\n

ii) As this solar wind interacts with the Earth’s magnetic field<\/span>, it creates a protective shield.<\/p>\n

iii) However, some charged particles become trapped in the Earth’s magnetic field<\/span> and travel along magnetic field lines to the poles.<\/p>\n

iv) Upon reaching the upper atmosphere, these particles collide with gases, resulting in luminous flashes that illuminate the sky<\/span>. Oxygen collisions produce green light, while nitrogen collisions generate shades of blue and purple.<\/p>\n

3. Expansion to Midlatitudes:<\/strong> Auroras extend to midlatitudes during periods of intense solar activity.<\/p>\n

i) Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs)<\/span> increase solar wind intensity, leading to geomagnetic storms.<\/p>\n

ii) These storms are characterized by temporary disturbances in the Earth’s magnetic field. It allows auroras to be visible in mid-latitudes.<\/span><\/p>\n

4. Recent Events and Impact:<\/strong> A recent geomagnetic storm triggered by a CME led to widespread auroral displays.<\/p>\n

i) It is classified as “extreme” by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). <\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

ii) This storm may affect various space-dependent operations,<\/span> including GPS, radio communications, flight operations, power grids, and space exploration programs.<\/p>\n

UPSC Syllabus: Science and technology<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Source-This post on Auroras is based on the article “Aurora Borealis: What are northern and southern lights? Why do they occur?” published in \u201cThe Indian Express\u201d on 12th May 2024. Why in the News? A powerful solar storm recently caused a dazzling array of colors to light up the skies in several locations worldwide. About… Continue reading Auroras<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10366,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1566,11209],"tags":[11972,11452],"class_list":["post-295450","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-daily-factly-articles","category-geography-in-news","tag-9-pm-daily-factly","tag-the-indian-express","entry"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","views":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295450","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10366"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=295450"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/295450\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=295450"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=295450"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/forumias.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=295450"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}