1. By: Jennifer Cunningham, Alex Dukes, and Heather Hodnett
Auroras
By: Jennifer Cunningham, Alex Dukes, and Heather Hodnett

14. Aurora Folklore Vikings Finnish Estonian Scottish Latvian Danish
“Valkyrior” of Viking mythology
Vikings
Finnish
Estonian
Scottish
Latvian
Danish
Sami (Northern Europe)
Algonquin (Canada)
Inuit
Prospectors during Klondike Gold Rush

15. Earliest Recordings Cro-Magnon cave-paintings Chinese writings
30,000 B.C.
Chinese writings
2600 B.C.
Cave painting of aurora phenomenon

16. Early Scientific Explanations
Norwegian educational text
1250 A.D.
Scandinavian ideas
Galileo Galilei
1619 A.D.
Coins term “aurora borealis”

17. Historical Timeline ELECTRICAL CURRENT ALTITUDE MAGNETISM & MAPPING
Hiorter and Celsius, Swedish astronomers (1741)
ALTITUDE
Henry Cavendish, British scientist (1790)
MAGNETISM & MAPPING
Loomis and Fritz (1860 & 1881)
“TERRELLA EXPERIMENT”
Kristian Birkeland, Norwegian physicist ( )

18. “Leaky Bucket theory”
Overflow of positive particles from radiation belt?
Disproved in 1962 by James van Allen, American Space Scientist
Auroras caused by excited gas molecules!

19. Where it All Begins…
Solar Flares
Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs)

20. The Collision
The Solar Wind
vs.
Mother Earth

21. Orientation Day
The earth’s magnetic fields
The polar donuts

22. The Excitement Builds…
O*  O + hv
N2+*  N2+ + hv
Remember Crystal Field Theory 

23. The Grand Finale Oxygen atom: 558 nm (green) and 636 nm (red)
Nitrogen ion:
nm (blue,
indigo, violet)

24. Overview Location Polar zones
The Northern Lights can be seen in most of Alaska, Canada, and the northern reaches of Europe and Asia
Frequency
Larger shows occur during the three years following the peak of the 11 yr. sunspot cycle
Also larger during the months surrounding the fall and spring equinoxes
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) uses the Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite (POES) to continually monitor the power flux of the particles that produce the auroras

25. Field Trip Time! I Want To See Them!
According to
This Monday May 7th, 2007 the Auroras will be fairly active.
They will be able to be seen in the north-east corner of Washington, the northern half of Montana!
Field Trip Time!

26. The Great Auroras of September 2, 1985
Major solar flares caused huge Auroras
Auroras interrupted most of the 125,000 miles of telegraph lines in the US
A few lines were of just the right length and orientation to capture the storm power
A clear conversation was held for more than two hours between Boston and Portland telegraph stations with no battery power used!

27. We Are Not Alone…
Jupiter and Saturn have magnetic fields stronger than those on Earth so the auroras are clearly visible
Io, Ganymede, and Europa
Mars
Recent discovery reveals presence of
auroras
The magnetic field failed long ago
The remaining fragments are apparently
enough to form auroras

28. Sources of Reference Chemistry Textbook (pages 755 – 756) Wikipedia
Chemistry & Physics of Auroras
Aurora History
Aurora Forecast