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Scientists can’t find an explanation: this blue aurora should not exist in the sky of Japan!

The Northern Lights don’t always have the same colors. But physicists generally know how to explain it. Usually just because it happens, as happened in Japan last May, that they are surprised.

When the solar wind hits Earth’s magnetosphere, the charged particles it contains interact with our molecules. EnvironmentEnvironment. This causes the emission of light that we know as the northern and southern lights. Their color depends on both.EnergyEnergy is transmitted through particles. Solar windSolar wind and the molecules with which they cross paths.

Where do the Northern Lights get their colors and shapes?

Scientists now have a pretty good idea of ​​all this. The fact is, they still surprise me sometimes. Last May, for example, a Aurora BorealisAurora Borealis The blue color lit up the skies over the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido (Japan), while in theory, researchers only expected red auroras at such low levels. LatitudeLatitude.

An aurora borealis of amazing color and texture

to understand, PhysicistPhysicist From the Swedish Institute of The bodyThe body Space and the University of Nagoya (Japan) were able to rely on numerous amateur images of the event. In the magazine Earth, planets and spacethey explain how they were able to reconstruct the spatial structure of the astonishing blue aurora borealis. Thus they teach us that it presents structures aligned with our Earth’s magnetic field lines and that the aurora extends for about 1,200 km. LongitudeLongitudethat it consisted of three separate structures and was located at an altitude between 400 and 900 km.

All of this doesn’t fit the model the researchers had in mind for the low-latitude aurora. The source of AtomAtom The energetic neutrals (ENA) of these auroras will actually be found in the donut of charged particles that surround the Earth. But, according to physicists, it is unlikely that these ENAs could create structures similar to those seen in the blue aurora that appeared over Japan a few months ago. It’s also unlikely to be a trend playplay A resonator that also produces a blue aurora.

An unknown mechanism behind the blue aurora borealis

Researchers believe it was formed by an unknown mechanism that may have accelerated its speed. IonsIons molecularNitrogenNitrogen. “To date, we do not fully understand how such ions interact with them On a large scaleOn a large scale Height can exist at such a height.Get to know physicists. They cannot easily exist for long periods of time due to their mass and decay time intervals.A reunionA reunion However, they are observed at higher altitudes. The process is shrouded in mystery.” Thus, to fully unravel the mystery of the low-latitude blue aurora, more observations will undoubtedly be needed…

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