Distant Planets Have Aurorae
July 24th 2011 09:29
Category: Cosmic Objects
Northern and Southern lights most of us are familiar with these terms. Although I have yet to see a
Fully fledged aurora. The most common occurrence of aurorae is in the upper regions of Earth’s the polar ice caps.
People living in the Northern and southern polar caps are treated to a dazzling light show.
It is possible that distant large gas planet near it’s Sun would experience aurorae that are many thousands times more energetic than earthly, not a great place to be.
Bright curtains of light just hanging in the sky, the colours are truly amazing.
Aurorae are created when energy particles from the Sun collide into our Earth's magnetic field.
When the Sun has reached Solar maximum generally every 11 years the incidents of aurorae high.
Loading
They can sometimes reach further down the southern latitudes towards the Earth’s equator. That’s why at times it is possible to see a partial glow in the night sky that’s is not attributed to light pollution.
The aurorae that occur on Earth are miniscule when compared to the aurorae that light Jupiter and Saturn. Uranus and Neptune also experience aurorae.
Coronal mass ejection (CME) emitted by the Sun can cause the northern and southern light to glow intensely.
A CME can disrupt Earth's magnetosphere, The magnetosphere is a bubble that protects Earth for Solar
bombardments. The magnetosphere is formed by the Earth’s magnetic field.
CME can cause huge disruptions on Earth. In 1989, a CME struck Earth with such intensity producing a larger than normal geomagnetic storm that blacked out huge regions of Quebec, Canada and parts of northern US.
Just imagine if a Jupiter size or larger exoplanet orbiting close to a distant Sun the aurorae produced on that distant planet would violent to the extreme.
Aurorae formed on an exoplanet would engulf the whole planet from pole to pole, resulting in a light show sometimes seen in our gas giants Jupiter and Saturn , but on a much larger scale.
| 29 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by S.L.
The Political Brief
Comment by CMoreStars
Astroearth
Camera Sense
Hi S.L.
we seldom get very little chance to see an aurora at my present location.