I have family in the northern US posting pictures of the northern lights. My friends in Australia said their feeds are full of similar pictures. Is it normal for magnetic storms to cause effects in both hemispheres? Why are these effects centered off the poles? I’m not in the viewing circle. I’m jealous.
In: Planetary Science
The sun is blasting us with radiation. Much of this radiation is *uncharged* like gamma rays and UV light. This stuff hits the atmosphere during the day when the sun is overhead.
But some of the radiation has electric charge. Beta radiation (free electrons) alpha radiation (free helium atoms without electrons) for examples. These radiations will curve due to magnetism, and the way that they curve causes them to spiral as they bounce between the north and south magnetic poles. If they dip low enough as they approach the poles then they’ll hit the atmosphere, causing atoms in the air to glow.
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