NASA's rocket-tracers provide illumination for the aurora borealis



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The Mother Earth is a great artist: look no further than the aurora – screens of natural light that paint the sky with amazing colors.

Produced by violent collisions between the Earth's atmosphere and particles of the Sun, these brilliant shining leaves are more than just a sight to behold.

"Understanding the contribution of auroras to the total amount of energy entering and exiting Earth's geospatial system … is one of the major goals of the NASA-funded Rocket Experiment rocket experiment Upwelling Rocket Experiment," according to the agency.

AZURE is the first of eight rocket sounding missions to be launched over the next two years, as part of an international collaboration known as The Grand Challenge Initiative – Cusp.

Staff at NASA's Wallops flight facility in Virginia performs payload tests for the AZURE mission at the Andøya Space Center in Norway (via NASA's Wallops Flight Facility)

Twin rockets were released Friday in the ionosphere between 30 and 30 km to measure atmospheric density and temperature. They also deployed visible tracers – trimethylaluminum (TMA) and a barium / strontium mixture – that create colored clouds, allowing astronomers to track the flow of neutral and charged particles, respectively.

"Such measurements are essential if we really want to understand the effects of the mysterious and beautiful dawn," NASA said. "The results will be key to a better understanding of the effects of auroral forcing on the atmosphere, including how and where the auroral energy is deposited. "

The scientific citizens also received an impressive show, capturing stunning photos and accelerated videos of luminescent nebulae.

Among them, Michael Theusner, parked about 110 km south of the Andøya Space Center during last week's show.

"After a grand presentation of aurora, we waited longer and suddenly saw two orange dots rise in the sky north of us, which then disappeared again," Theusner wrote on a translated forum. in German.

In a few minutes, "it became really crazy with four bright spots lit at the same time and increasingly strange and colorful light effects," he continued. "We were all pretty perplexed."

"The more we learn about the aurora, the more we understand about the fundamental processes that govern the near-Earth space – a region that is increasingly part of the human domain," NASA said. "At home not only for astronauts, but also for communications and GPS signals that can affect people on the ground every day."

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