Aurora

1. Aurora
Professional Skills, Tutorial Group J
Brian Yu, Daniel Russell, Si Wu
Liuba Dvinskikh, Mattia Gaggi
Imperial College London
5th November, 2013

3. Timeline
The Aurora (1991)
Earth’s
Magnetic
Field
(1716)
Solar ActivityAurora Relation
(1896)
11-Year
Sunspot
Cycle
(1844)
Height of the
Aurora
Measurement
(1911)

4. Nuclear Fusion
Coulomb Repulsion
• E = mc²
• Yield of KE
Strong Nuclear Force

5. Stellar Magnetic Field
Formation of
plasma
Convection
Differential
rotation
Solar activity

6. CME and Solar Wind
Solar Flares
Coronal Mass
Ejection
Geomagnetic Storm

7. Electromagnetic Interaction

8. Atomic Excitation
Plasma collides
with air particles
Air particles
absorb potential
energy
Air particle
re-radiates
energy
Aurora

9. Colour of Aurora
• Collisions mainly caused by electrons
• Proton (rare!)  larger mass more energetic

10. Altitude of Aurora
• Lower bound at 100km
• Upper bound at ~1000km
• Red emission from the
oxygen is always above
the green emission from
the oxygen

11. Conclusion!