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Sound Waves from the Northern Lights Photo courtesy of Bjorn Jorgensen, 18 January 2005, near Tromsø, Norway

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Presentation on theme: "Sound Waves from the Northern Lights Photo courtesy of Bjorn Jorgensen, 18 January 2005, near Tromsø, Norway"— Presentation transcript:

1 Sound Waves from the Northern Lights Photo courtesy of Bjorn Jorgensen, 18 January 2005, near Tromsø, Norway http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2005/17jan05/Jorgensen1.jpg Jada Maxwell

2 How are aurorae created? Sound waves from the aurorae Wave transformation in the Sun’s atmosphere Wave transformation in Earth’s atmosphere Can magnetic waves in the aurorae transform into sound waves?

3 How are aurorae created?

4 Chain of Events The aurora is created by a chain of events, beginning with energy from the sun. Image courtesy of Tom Michalik http://faculty.rmwc.edu/tmichalik/solarwind.htm

5 The Magnetosphere Image courtesy of Minnesota Technolog http://technolog.it.umn.edu/technolog/novdec97/cover.htm

6 The Ring Current Image: M of E: Ring Current, 2005 2.5 to 7 R E

7 Coronal Mass Ejection (CME) Illustration by Steele Hill, courtesy of NASA http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/localinfo/steele.html

8 South-North Magnetic Orientation of CME

9 North-South Magnetic Orientation of CME

10 Magnetic Reconnection on Dayside of Earth

11 Magnetic Field Lines are Drawn Back to Magnetotail

12 Magnetotail is Compressed

13 Magnetic Reconnection in Magnetotail

14 Substorm Current Wedge & Field-aligned Currents Ring current

15 Particles Spiral Down Field Lines Image: Fundamentals of Physics, 2005

16 Particles 2 Collide with atomic and molecular oxygen and nitrogen Emit energy as light Particles Spiral Down Field Lines

17 This Creates the Aurorae Image courtesy of Shawn Malone http://www.lakesuperiorphoto.com Northern Lights = Aurora Borealis Southern Lights = Aurora Australis

18 Nearly Mirror Images Aurora BorealisAurora Australis Images courtesy of NOAA http://sec.noaa.gov/pmap/

19 Can we hear the aurorae?  Anecdotal evidence of auroral sounds hissing, popping, crackling, swooshing corresponds with motions of light

20 6 minutes Sound would take at least 6 minutes to travel from the aurora to the ground No recordings of audible aurorae

21 Psychological Freezing Breath “Brush discharge” Explanations of Audible Sounds

22 Humans can hear between 20 and 20,000 Hertz (Hz) Infrasound is below 20 Hz Currently being investigated Gas expansion Evidence of Infrasound from Aurorae

23 The corona of the Sun is hotter than the surface! Image: Universe, 6 th ed., 2002

24 Sound Waves on the Sun Created by Convection

25 Sound Waves Propagate through Sun’s Atmosphere Sun

26 Energy of Sound Waves is Transformed into Magnetic Waves Sun

27 Alfvén waves (s-mode) Magnetosonic waves (p-mode) Types of Magnetic Waves S-mode image courtesy of Georgia State University http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/sound/tralon.html BBC animations

28 Can magnetic waves in the aurorae transform into sound waves? My Question

29 Magnetic Waves Earth

30 Transform into Sound Waves Earth

31 Beta is a Clue Beta = β = Gas Pressure Magnetic Field Pressure

32 Plasma is like… β = 1 is important

33 Resonance All material has a frequency that it vibrates at Matching the frequency allows the material to absorb energy Singing wine glass

34 Resonance in the Ionosphere When β = 1, Energy from magnetic waves can be absorbed by the atmosphere

35 Mechanism for Transformation y (B 0, k) z (E 1 ) x (v 1, B 1 ) y (B 0 ) x (v 1, B 1, k) z (E 1 ) Alfvén wavesMagnetosonic waves

36 Mechanism for Transformation y (B 0, k) z (E 1 ) x (v 1, B 1 ) y (B 0 ) x (v 1, B 1, k) z (E 1 ) Alfvén waves to Acoustic waves Magnetosonic waves to Acoustic waves E 1 p

37 Mechanism for Transformation y (B 0, k) z (E 1 ) x (v 1, B 1 ) y (B 0 ) x (v 1, B 1, k) z (E 1 ) Alfvén waves to Acoustic waves Magnetosonic waves to Acoustic waves v 1 p E 1 p

38 When Beta = 1 β = 1 in Earth’s atmosphere?

39 CMEs Aurorae MHD Waves Infrasound ? observed What have we learned?

40 Future Plans Gather data from satellite observations of resonant acoustic and Alfvén waves in a single CME induced geomagnetic event Evaluate how wave velocities, frequencies and wavelengths change as altitude and β changes Use data of auroral infrasound observed at Earth’s surface to extrapolate speeds in the ionosphere and compare to magnetic wave speeds

41 Thanks to: Dr. E.J. Zita for her guidance, input and helpful discussions Paul Lessard for helpful discussions

42 Image Sources: ▪ NOAA (National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration) http://sec.noaa.gov/pmap/ ▪ NASA http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/localinfo/steele.html ▪ SpaceWeather.com http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2005.htm ▪ Shawn Malone http://www.lakesuperiorphoto.com ▪ Tom Michalik http://faculty.rmwc.edu/tmichalik/solarwind.htm ▪ Minnesota Technolog http://technolog.it.umn.edu/technolog/novdec97/cover.htm ▪ Halliday/Resnick/Walker. Fundamentals of Physics, John Wiley & Sons, 2005, p 746 ▪ Freedman, R.A. and W.J. Kaufman. Universe, 6 th ed. W.H. Freeman & Co., 2002, p 404 ▪ Wolf, R. Magnetosphere of Earth: Ring Current. Encyclopedia of Aston. & Astrophys. 2005

43 http://academic.evergreen.edu/m/maxjad02

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