aurora borealis

This massive solar flare will make for dazzling northern lights

Things are getting pretty wild on the surface of the Sun. Our resident star is nearing the pinnacle of its 11-year cycle of solar activity, which is scheduled to climax in 2013. As it approaches peak activity, energetic flares — like the one pictured here — are expected to increase in both frequency and intensity.…

io9 Robbie Gonzalez Sep 8

A Five Minute Explanation of How the Earth’s Beautiful Northern Lights Arrive

Aurora borealis isn’t just very fun to say aloud—it’s absolutely beautiful to watch. But where does it come from? The whim of the gods? No, silly Ancient Roman—the sun’s plasma discharges are responsible. This video breaks it down. The sun is a giant crock pot of magnetic fields and incredible heat. The two collude and…

Space & Spaceflight Sam Biddle Jul 6

In less than 5 minutes, learn how the Northern Lights are formed

Here’s a lovely little animation by Per Byhring and the University of Oslo’s Department of Physics that explains how aurora borealis lights up the northern climes. A four minutes and forty-eight seconds well spent. [Via Kuriositas]

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jul 3

Aurora borealis lights up the sky like psychedelic fire in this time-lapse video

Errant UFOs aren’t the only reason to look to the sky in Norway these days. Terje Sorgjerd recently captured this ethereal time-lapse footage of the northern lights. https://gizmodo.com/ufo-delayed-flights-at-the-oslo-airport-last-thursday-5786075 Says Sorgjerd,”I spent a week capturing one of the biggest aurora borealis shows in recent years. Shot in and around Kirkenes and Pas National Park bordering Russia,…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Mar 26

The Sun unleashes its biggest solar flare in years

Earlier this week, the Sun emitted its first X-class solar flare in about four years. The most powerful form of solar flare, this particular flare has lit up a massive region on the Sun’s southern hemisphere…and any of our readers in the far northern or southern latitudes will be treated to some particularly amazing auroras…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Feb 17

A Burning Ring of Fire

Burning steel wool, a tripod, and a long exposure shot. That, and a canvas as haunting as the aurora borealis, are all it took for Tommy Eliassen to create this indelible ode to fire and light. [Telegraph UK; Image credit: Tommy Eliassen/solent]

Tech News Brian Barrett Feb 17

The northern lights could be headed south to a night sky near you

The spectacular lights of the aurora borealis are rarely seen outside the Arctic Circle, but fierce solar activity might soon send them southward. The continental US, Japan, and even Mediterranean Europe may all get a taste of the northern lights. The amazing lights of the aurora borealis and its southern counterpart, the aurora australis, are…

io9 Alasdair Wilkins Dec 30

The Best of the Year in Space

It’s been a big year for the space sciences. The first privately-held spacecraft orbited our world, the blackest material in history was created, researchers expanded the list of possible sources of life threefold; and that was just in December. 1. Hubble Detects Mysterious Spaceship-Shaped Object Traveling at 11,000MPH – February 2nd Hubble has discovered a…

Space & Spaceflight Gizmodo Staff Dec 27

Earth Turns On its Christmas Lights For ISS Astronauts

Astronaut Doug Wheelock snapped these photos from the ISS over the last two weeks, of London, Paris, Ibiza, the Nile…it’s like a tour of some of Earth’s most beautiful cities. From space. One of the photos even shows the Aurora Borealis; a green haze above Europe. Down below, millions of people are getting on with…

Space & Spaceflight Kat Hannaford Nov 11

This Aurora Photo Is the Most Insane I’ve Ever Seen

By far, this is the most spectacular and insane photography of an aurora borealis I’ve ever seen. When I showed this in our virtual bullpen, the unanimous reaction was complete awe. Auroras emit light because of the emission of photons by oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the upper atmosphere. Those atoms get excited—or ionized—by the…

Space & Spaceflight Jesus Diaz Sep 20

The Sun May’ve Belched Plasma, But the Sky Looked Gorgeous

Last week’s geomagnetic storm produced some wild photos of aurora borealis, otherwise known as the Northern Lights. Thankfully Flickr users were on hand to shoot the effects of the sun’s expelled plasma, like this one seen here. https://gizmodo.com/watch-the-suns-epic-cosmic-belch-in-hd-5607259 This particular photo, shot by Shawn Malone from LakeSuperiorPhoto.com, shows the aurora borealis over the Lake Superior…

Tech News Kat Hannaford Aug 11

A lime-green light show 190 miles above the Indian Ocean

On May 29, this photo was taken on the International Space Station by a NASA astronaut on Expedition 23. It shows aurora australis, the southern Lights, zigzagging towards the South Pole. Here’s NASA’s background on this gorgeous, neon green aurora: These ever-shifting displays of colored ribbons, curtains, rays, and spots are most visible near the…

io9 Cyriaque Lamar Jun 21

Can We Study The Polar Icecap Without Wrecking It?

Too bad we have to smash the polar ice to understand it. A new ship being built by the European Science Federation will be able to drill through thousands of miles of ocean under the ice and collect core samples from the sea floor. The Aurora Borealis will be the first ship that can break…

io9 Charliejane Jan 3

Battery-Powered Aurora Light Projector Simulates Northern Lights, an Iffy Proposition

If this Genso Kukan Aurora simulator can come anything close to making your wall look like in the aurora borealis, it will be worth far more than its $61 price. It’s a 6-inch tall projector that runs on three AA batteries, and it has a 30-minute sleep timer to lull you to sleep with images…

Gadgets Charlie White Apr 5

This massive solar flare will make for dazzling northern lights

A Five Minute Explanation of How the Earth’s Beautiful Northern Lights Arrive

In less than 5 minutes, learn how the Northern Lights are formed

Aurora borealis lights up the sky like psychedelic fire in this time-lapse video

The Sun unleashes its biggest solar flare in years

A Burning Ring of Fire

The northern lights could be headed south to a night sky near you

The Best of the Year in Space

Earth Turns On its Christmas Lights For ISS Astronauts

This Aurora Photo Is the Most Insane I’ve Ever Seen

The Sun May’ve Belched Plasma, But the Sky Looked Gorgeous

A lime-green light show 190 miles above the Indian Ocean

Can We Study The Polar Icecap Without Wrecking It?

Battery-Powered Aurora Light Projector Simulates Northern Lights, an Iffy Proposition

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