NASA | The Mystery of the Aurora

Want more? Subscribe to NASA on iTunes!
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=283424434

With spring right around the corner it is the season for auroras. The beautiful and mysterious auroras are spectacular to watch, but they are actually a manifestation of violent space weather. This weather can create big problems here on Earth by disrupting power grids, satellites, air travel and even GPS signals. While auroras have fascinated observers for centuries, little had been known about their origin. But NASA is aiming to resolve this mystery with a new mission called THEMIS.

For more information:
http://www.nasa.gov/centers/goddard/news/topstory/2008/aurora_live.html

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• nasa
• goddard
• space
• flight
• center
• tv
• aurora
• borealis
• northern
• southern
• lights
• themis
• solar
• weather
• polar
• earth
• sun
• rich
• melnick

[RobinDropping]

A scientist is a man who understands nothing , until there is nothing left to understand.

[KingArcbound]

"Pretty soon, Auroras may not seem as mysterious after all"

I am having trouble seeing what is good about that. There we go, one by one, eliminating all of the wonders in the universe. Our damned curiosity.

[MrMarsirius]

Fuck anglis!

[mrpumpkinn]

@bedwettingliberal Hey.. there's no accounting for people on here.

It wouldn't be the dumbest thing I had seen on here.

[bedwettingliberal]

@mrpumpkinn Really? You're gonna correct me after I talked about the brain forest and radiation from the center of the Earth? Are you even awake?

[bedwettingliberal]

@mrpumpkinn Next you're going to explain to me how thunder is not the gods farting, but just a result of air being suddenly superheated by lightning. Damn, some people are dumb. If you can't recognize satire, you might be a retard. Satire: look it up, and try getting out more.

[mrpumpkinn]

@bedwettingliberal Moron.

Try actually reading a book before you made stupid comments on things you really have no clue about.

The most common auroral colour is Green, which is caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with OXYGEN, which, last I checked, is not a gross byproduct of mining or deforestation (or cutting down the "Brain" forest)

And there are Aurora myths going back at least as far a medieval times.

But you already knew that,having read to extensively on the subject.

[bedwettingliberal]

@mrpumpkinn Actually, it's due to cutting down the brain forest, leftover radiation from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and radiation emanating from the center of the earth due to all the strip mining. Do some reading. The native Alaskans never wrote about seeing the aurora hundreds of years ago. (of course, they never wrote anything at all and still survive by mating with their siblings, but that's beside the point.)

[mrpumpkinn]

@bedwettingliberal its got nothing to do with pollution.

It's due to magnetic forces!

[mrpumpkinn]

@KingArcbound Explaining how things happen should not take away from the majesty of it.

Indeed, as our our understanding of the cosmos increases, the more we realise how spectacularly grand it is in scale, and how much there is still for us to learn.

There have been those throughout history who have sought to suppress knowledge and keep people in ignorance...ALWAYS at the detriment to the many, and the benefit of the few.

I, for one, am happy that scientists are revealing such mysteries!

[MrLoooda]

9gag sent me here !