Editing 2233: Aurora Meaning
Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.
The edit can be undone.
Please check the comparison below to verify that this is what you want to do, and then save the changes below to finish undoing the edit.
| Latest revision | Your text | ||
| Line 8: | Line 8: | ||
==Explanation== | ==Explanation== | ||
| + | {{incomplete|Created by a an arXiv server. Please mention here why this explanation isn't complete. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}} | ||
The phenomenon of an atmospheric {{w|aurora}} (known as aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and aurora australis in the southern hemisphere) occurs as a result of charged particles emitted by the sun interacting with the Earth's magnetic field. The magnetic field funnels the charged particles towards the polar regions of the earth. At some point, the flow of particles hits the atmosphere, where the particles interact with the molecules of the gases which make up the atmosphere and add to those molecules' energy. Those molecules subsequently release the added energy in the form of light, which is observed as an aurora. | The phenomenon of an atmospheric {{w|aurora}} (known as aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and aurora australis in the southern hemisphere) occurs as a result of charged particles emitted by the sun interacting with the Earth's magnetic field. The magnetic field funnels the charged particles towards the polar regions of the earth. At some point, the flow of particles hits the atmosphere, where the particles interact with the molecules of the gases which make up the atmosphere and add to those molecules' energy. Those molecules subsequently release the added energy in the form of light, which is observed as an aurora. | ||
| Line 15: | Line 16: | ||
'''Polar latitudes:''' Normal; auroras typically can be seen in these high latitudes. | '''Polar latitudes:''' Normal; auroras typically can be seen in these high latitudes. | ||
| β | '''Subpolar latitudes:''' (e.g., southern Canada/northern US, most of | + | '''Subpolar latitudes:''' (e.g., southern Canada/northern US, most of Europe, northern half of Asia) Happens frequently enough to be unconcerned but uncommon enough to be notable and interesting. About a week before the publication of this comic, on Wednesday, November 20, 2019, [https://www.cnn.com/2019/11/20/us/aurora-borealis-wednesday-trnd-scn/index.html aurora activity was visible] in the northern United States and southern Canada. |
'''Subtropical/Tropical latitudes:''' Charged particles of sufficient energy to cause auroras at this latitude are very rare and have happened on only a few occasions in recorded history, and not during the space age. A particularly strong one was the {{w|solar storm of 1859}}, which caused failure of telegraph systems all over Europe and North America and in some cases gave telegraph operators electric shocks. An event of that magnitude today would likely interfere with the functioning of electronic systems in orbit, possibly to the point of disabling them entirely, and would cause widespread damage to our now highly electrified world. | '''Subtropical/Tropical latitudes:''' Charged particles of sufficient energy to cause auroras at this latitude are very rare and have happened on only a few occasions in recorded history, and not during the space age. A particularly strong one was the {{w|solar storm of 1859}}, which caused failure of telegraph systems all over Europe and North America and in some cases gave telegraph operators electric shocks. An event of that magnitude today would likely interfere with the functioning of electronic systems in orbit, possibly to the point of disabling them entirely, and would cause widespread damage to our now highly electrified world. | ||
| Line 21: | Line 22: | ||
'''Equatorial latitudes:''' Auroras have never been recorded here, so all scientific inquiry into what the effect would be on the Earth in general, and on life itself, is purely theoretical. Were this to actually occur, those theories could be proven or disproven based on actual observations (presuming all observers have not been incapacitated or otherwise occupied by the complete breakdown of all electrical and electronic systems as the charged particles induce electric currents in conducting objects). An event powerful enough to have auroras at equatorial latitudes would be extremely energetic and would probably cause very high levels of damage on Earth. | '''Equatorial latitudes:''' Auroras have never been recorded here, so all scientific inquiry into what the effect would be on the Earth in general, and on life itself, is purely theoretical. Were this to actually occur, those theories could be proven or disproven based on actual observations (presuming all observers have not been incapacitated or otherwise occupied by the complete breakdown of all electrical and electronic systems as the charged particles induce electric currents in conducting objects). An event powerful enough to have auroras at equatorial latitudes would be extremely energetic and would probably cause very high levels of damage on Earth. | ||
| β | The title text comments on what would happen if auroras were seen in the equatorial band. [http://arXiv.org arXiv.org] is an electronic database of unreviewed, pre-print research papers. The [https://arxiv.org/list/astro-ph.SR/recent astro-ph.SR] sublist is a list of papers in the "Solar and Stellar Astrophysics" topic. So if auroras were seen in the middlemost band, there would be many requests to upload electronic publications on the subject, as well as actual electrical interference to the servers of the website. Randall may have been consulting this server for research on the comic, prompting this specific observation. | + | The title text comments on what would happen if auroras were seen in the equatorial band. [http://arXiv.org arXiv.org] is an electronic database of unreviewed, pre-print research papers. The [https://arxiv.org/list/astro-ph.SR/recent astro-ph.SR] sublist is a list of papers in the "Solar and Stellar Astrophysics" topic. So if auroras were seen in the middlemost band, there would be many requests to upload electronic publications on the subject, as well as actual electrical interference to the servers of the website. Randall probably may have been consulting this server for research on the comic, prompting this specific observation. |
==Transcript== | ==Transcript== | ||
