lights

Why are we seeing more northern lights this year?

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This article was originally published at The Conversation. The publication contributed the article to Space.com’s Expert Voices: Op-Ed & Insights. Solar cycle 25 is kicking off in style. Our sun has a cycle of activity and as it becomes more active, there will be more sightings of the northern (and southern) lights. That is what is happening this … Read more

How a Magnetic ‘Tug-of-War’ With Io’s Volcanic Eruptions Creates Jupiter’s Auroras

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Jupiter’s auroras – the lights that dance around its poles – are the most distinct in our solar system and over a thousand times brighter than Earth’s aurora. Now, a new study confirms that these otherworldly polar lights come from a unique source: space lava.   Jupiter‘s moon Io is the most volcanically active world in the solar … Read more

These simple green lights could save sharks and turtles from fishing nets | Science

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An inky, tentacled squid stuck in a net can be a messy problem for a fisher. And for a loggerhead turtle or a diamond stingray, getting tangled in a net often means death. Now, new research offers hope: It shows that affixing green light-emitting diode (LED) lights to fishing nets significantly reduces the catch of … Read more

Do Auroras Make Sounds We Can Hear? The True Answer Is Surprisingly Complicated

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It’s a question that has puzzled observers for centuries: do the fantastic green and crimson light displays of the aurora borealis produce any discernible sound? Conjured by the interaction of solar particles with gas molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, the aurora generally occurs near Earth’s poles, where the magnetic field is strongest. Reports of the aurora … Read more

Where to see the northern lights: 2022 aurora borealis guide

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Photos don’t do the northern lights justice. To fully appreciate the glory and grandeur of this celestial display, which is also known as the aurora borealis, you have to settle beneath the ever-changing lights and watch them curve and curl, slither and flicker. Here’s how to see the northern lights.  Amazing auroras: Stunning northern lights photos The first … Read more