NASA Solves 30-year Mystery of Auroras
NASA spacecraft have determined magentic substorms cause aurora borealis
The aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights, has been a puzzle to scientist for over 30 years. The mystery to science was how exactly the phenomenon was started in the atmosphere. According to Space.com, scientists were unsure if the aurora was started as magnetic field lines in the atmosphere reconnected or if the aurora originated closer to Earth as the result of explosive instability.
NASA used its five THEMIS spacecraft orbiting the Earth to spot the trigger for the substorms that cause the aurora to develop. The trigger was very strong energy bursts in the Earth’s magnetic field. The THEMIS probes monitored the level of energy in the Earth’s magnetic field. The probes were able to find substorms that originated in the tail of the Earth’s magnetosphere that flows away from the sun.
