March 29, 2006
On the day you were born, another consciousness opened inside the cosmos and began taking notes.
Green and Black Aurora Over Norway
Birthday · March 29, 2006
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APOD published March 29, 2006. Credit: auroral displays. A publication-date match, not a photo taken on your date. Independent of NASA.
What causes gaps between aurora curtains? These unusual gaps can make auroral displays appear more detailed and intricate. Research using data from four Cluster spacecraft orbiting the Earth has likely found the secret: auroral gaps, sometimes knows as black auroras, are actually anti-auroras. In normal auroras, electrons and/or predominantly negatively charged particles fall toward Earth along surfaces of constant magnetic field. They ionize the Earth's atmosphere on impact, causing the bright glows. In auroral gaps, however, negatively charged particles may be sucked out from the Earth's ionosphere along adjoining magnetic field lines. These dark anti-auroras can climb to over 20,000 kilometers and last for several minutes. Pictured above, a series of well-defined auroral gaps is seen dividing green aurora curtains high above Harstad, Norway, earlier this month.
Image credit: auroral displays