Talk-Line Northern Lights ASCII (180 lines)

Crosspost/imported from:

rec.arts.ascii (moderated) #3503 (6 + 19 more)
From: ric...@rs4.tcs.tulane.edu (Dave Rice)
[1] Line: Aurora borealis/Northern Lights
Date: Fri Dec 30 20:21:39 PST 1994
Organization: Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

There was a request for an ascii art northern lights posted here some time
ago.  Here is an attempt:
_____________________________________________________________________________
  ` : | | | |:  ||  :     `  :  |  |+|: | : : :|   .        `              .
      ` : | :|  ||  |:  :    `  |  | :| : | : |:   |  .                    :
         .' ':  ||  |:  |  '       ` || | : | |: : |   .  `           .   :.
                `'  ||  |  ' |   *    ` : | | :| |*|  :   :               :|
        *    *       `  |  : :  |  .      ` ' :| | :| . : :         *   :.||
             .`            | |  |  : .:|       ` | || | : |: |          | ||
      '          .         + `  |  :  .: .         '| | : :| :    .   |:| ||
         .                 .    ` *|  || :       `    | | :| | :      |:| |
 .                .          .        || |.: *          | || : :     :|||
        .            .   . *    .   .  ` |||.  +        + '| |||  .  ||`
     .             *              .     +:`|!             . ||||  :.||`
 +                      .                ..!|*          . | :`||+ |||`
     .                         +      : |||`        .| :| | | |.| ||`     .
       *     +   '               +  :|| |`     :.+. || || | |:`|| `
                            .      .||` .    ..|| | |: '` `| | |`  +
  .       +++                      ||        !|!: `       :| |
              +         .      .    | .      `|||.:      .||    .      .    `
          '                           `|.   .  `:|||   + ||'     `
  __    +      *                         `'       `'|.    `:
"'  `---"""----....____,..^---`^``----.,.___          `.    `.  .    ____,.,-
    ___,--'""`---"'   ^  ^ ^        ^       """'---,..___ __,..---""'
--"'                           ^                         ``--..,__
_____________________________________________________________________________
Winter night's northern lights                              by: D. Rice 12/94
_____________________________________________________________________________
A few comments on aurora and on the figure:

Aurora borealis and its southern counterpart, aurora australis, are phenomena
that occur only in the high latitudes, about 65 degrees North or South.  The
earth's atmosphere glows due to the impingement of energetic particles that
are trapped by the earth's magnetic field.  These particles circle the lines
of force until they hit the atmosphere where the field dips into the earth.
When they hit the atmosphere, they cause the air to glow.

The glow is not terribly bright, in general.  Thus the glow is seen usually
under conditions of low ambient light from other sources.  This means that
the sightings are mostly in winter, because it is light all the time in the
summer at high latitudes.  Also, clouds, fog, or smoke will obscure aurora.
The moon can overpower aurora in its region of the sky.  Because the
atmosphere itself is doing the glowing, the aurora is transparent--stars,
planets, earth satellites, and other luminous bodies can be seen through it.

Most auroras are diffuse greenish-white clouds.  These are not so interesting
because they resemble clouds lit by moonlight.  When the sun, the main source
of particles, is particularly energetic, the entire sky may be lit with
aurora.  A spectacular show happened in 1959, where aurora was seen as far
south as Mexico City.  When they are this extensive, they are generally red.

The most interesting auroras fall between these two extremes.  They appear to
be "curtains," bands or streamers that thread their way through the night
sky.  These curtains appear to have nearly vertical "folds" and the streamers
extend horizontally great distances -- like some of Cristo's artwork.  There
may be one or many streamers.  If more that one, the streamers follow nearly
parallel tracks, locally speaking.

The color can vary from bluish to green to red within a "fold," with red on
the bottom or hem of the curtain.  The hem is usually more distinct than the
top of the curtain, which can be quite diffuse.

I based this work -- with huge artistic license -- on a photo by Vic Hessler
of the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.  The
Geophysical Institute has also put out a video on auroral phenomena; music
was composed to accompany it.  It is commonly said that auroras can be heard,
by my ears never did, despite 16+ years of trying.

The ASCII figure doesn't do justice to the phenomenon.  I tried to represent
the detailed nature of the "folds" by using only vertical ascii characters
and centered dots.  At a distance the ascii-aurora looks like "smoke."  I
don't know what to do about it, except to view it as light against a dark
background, as on a computer screen.  There are numerous other things one
could do in ascii.  I put this art on one computer screen of text, but it
could be extended from the horizon ahead overhead to the horizon behind.
These things really do cover a sizeable part of the sky.  Also, animation
could show the movement and intensity variations of the streamers as a
function of time.  The starry background could move with the rotation of the
earth, and maybe even twinkle a bit.

----------------------------------------------------------------------->8

Mike Jittlov adds:

September 20, 1993 - I was visiting Iceland, and extremely fortunate
to be in the company of vikingologist The Legendary Skia and her
friend Sarah.  We were touring the western edge of the island, by
Snaefellsnes Volcano -- the real-life site of Jules Verne's "Journey
to the Center of the Earth", and what UFO-believers call Earth's
"Positive Psychic Pole" (the other pole somewhere in Tibet).  A UFO
convention was even scheduled there, the next week.  I wonder if they
saw anything as sensational as what we would soon witness.

It began as a faint cloud streak, which seemed a little too bright
for the twilight -- I thought it might be an irridescent jet trail,
like those occasionally seen over Los Angeles.  But it stayed long
after the night fell, and soon we could see the rippled hanging
-curtain effect of a postcard-perfect aurora.

>Also, animation could show the movement and intensity variations of

The aurora barely moved, at first...  15 minutes later, it was visibly
shifting.  In 15 more minutes, it was a giant, undulating sky-snake,
with a partner joining it.  A few dark clouds drifted below, giving a
sense of immense scope -- the world-serpents were awesome, easily the
fuel of legends.  15 minutes later, a third aurora joined, with all
three now writhing wildly -- at full speed, no time-lapse animation
was needed to see their motion.

Both Skia and Sarah could see _lots_ of different colors, ooo-ing and
aaah-ing at the reds (a sign of war or dramatic change).  All I saw
were pale greens and blues - either a deficiency of my male eyes, or
too many hours staring through my Sony Handicam's monochrome monitor.
I was also feeling strangely tired - that inbetween stage before sleep
comes (there was no reason, Skia had been doing all the car-driving).

Suddenly at 9:45pm, from a point-source above us, laser-like streams
came shooting down, in a full 360-degree display.  And a few minutes
later, swirling patterns began appearing and vanishing above, as if
the gods were pressing their fingerprints on the Great Dome of Night.
I could finally see more colors in those - red and purple.  I forced
myself awake and aware, looked through the Handicam, but disappointed
that nothing was visible in the viewfinder.  I tapped the record
button anyway, just to get my friends' wonderful exclamations.

That was a very fortunate move.  When I returned to LA and played the
tapes back on a color TV, the visual spectacle was actually recorded.
It's faint, but you can see the full-speed organic riots of color,
and hear our constant "oh-ghod-WOWW!!" reactions.

Here's my view, using (& over-complicating) Dave Rice's Aurora-ascii:

_____________________________________________________________________________
  ` |:| |:: |: .|: /:.\\  `.::|.|./|+|: | :|: :| : .   .  / `/,_\` \   .   .:
      ` ::| :| :||/ |:_ :    `.:|/:|::|\:`|:: |: . |: .  ( ,'// \ \ `   *  :|
 .       .' ': .|| '|:_\|::.  / '  `||| | ::| |: : |:.|   / /((`\\ ` `.   :.|
    .           ''//|| \|:|:/:.'  / . \ :\|:| :| |*|  : :(:(.``))`) \ ,   :||
  *         *  ( //(,;))|)|| :/:: . . `   ` '\:| | :| . . : \_// / ' )  :.||:
             .` ((_//'/ /|:| | :|/::...\   `   ' | || | : |:  ',' / /   | |::
      .       \` \_/,' ''  '/: ||'|:| |:    \ *  \ '| | : :|\:. ," '  : | |||
.        .     `.__  /_/   .   .: ||: :|\:.  `     \  | | :|.||. _/   |:| |:|
  .               ./ '    /  .  ' ''| ||`|:. .\     .\  | || ::!.   +:| | |`:
e       +        /    .        /    . ': |||.  +       \+ '| |||  . :|| |.`
@@e            /   .    '      '  . .   +'||!   \ .    ..`. `||:  :.||;`    .
@@@e.   .a@e '         / .    /     :   .::!:    `   . .: |`|:' . |||`
     a@a@@@@a.        ,       '     | ..:.|`      \.:: :| | '\ .|.||`  .
.=a@@@@@@@@@@e@e     /   a@e /   +   ..:|` \    .+ ||| || ' .:`|| `     .
       '.=@@@@@@e.  / a@@@@@e'     .:|.`   ` ..:|| ||; '   |:| |``
  .  /            .=a@@@@@@@@e.  .a@&.      \!|!'''       :| |     \       .
   /              /     .   '.=a@@@@@@@e.   ``|::..   \  :||;  .     `
 /               '         /       `|`|;.    \ `:||:   + !|'           \
  __    +       /          '        :   ':.  `    `'|.  \ `:             \
"'  `---"""----....____,..^---`^``----.,.__`` \       `. \  `.       ____,.,-
    ___,--'""`---"'   ^  ^ ^       ^      _""""'---,..___ `_,..---""'
--"'                          ^       ii d#b             ``--..,__
_____________________________________________________________________________


I understand there's a Northern Lights festival in Tromsoe, Norway,
in just two weeks...  <sigh>  ...And right after that, the Tromsoe
Film Festival, for little-seen creatively eccentric movies... <SIGHHHHHHH>

o================================o:; ,::::,*.:::::.*.::::::::::::
|   Mike Jittlov - Wizard, etc   |';* ';;'..`::::'   `:*`:;::::::
|  jit...@gumby.cs.caltech.edu  |;.;+,  '* ```:'o   o `,  `::;::
|     & alt.fan.mike-jittlov     |,',.::.. .' .' |\^/|:. `*:.. `*
| (but lately backpacking around |...May All Your \Y/ Good Dreams
| Scandinavia & Middle Earth...) |and Fine Wishes /_\ Come True:)
o================================o===============_/ \_===========

In article <3ehvm2$sp...@gagme.wwa.com>, jit...@erehwon.caltech.edu (Mike
Jittlov) wrote:


[much deleted]
> Crosspost/imported from:
>
> rec.arts.ascii (moderated) #3503 (6 + 19 more)
> From: ric...@rs4.tcs.tulane.edu (Dave Rice)
> [1] Line: Aurora borealis/Northern Lights
> Date: Fri Dec 30 20:21:39 PST 1994
> Organization: Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
> > A few comments on aurora and on the figure:
>
> Aurora borealis and its southern counterpart, aurora australis, are phenomena
> that occur only in the high latitudes, about 65 degrees North or South.

> The glow is not terribly bright, in general.  Thus the glow is seen usually
> under conditions of low ambient light from other sources.  This means that
> the sightings are mostly in winter, because it is light all the time in the
> summer at high latitudes.

>
> Most auroras are diffuse greenish-white clouds.  These are not so interesting
> because they resemble clouds lit by moonlight.

This interesting report is reinforced with a great display on the topic
currently at Tromsoe Museum.  A couple of comments/questions:

I live in Tromsoe during the school year and northern Minnesota during the
summers.  We routinely see northern lights both places.  No surprise in
Tromsoe, of course, but Minnesota doesn't fulfill either the latitude or
season requirements.
Also, the northern lights in these places are very different.  In Tromsoe
they're usually green and "vertical", so to say, but in Minnesota they
tend to be lots of colors, and more spread out through the sky, or if they
are a sort of stream there, then they often cover a greater portion of the
sky.

And, as for the diffuse one's not being so interesting.... well, spend a
few weeks in the dark and I bet they'll be quite welcome!

Curt Rice

I live in the country outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (check your
maps) and on cloudless nights we are able to see the Northern Lights
quite clearly and frequently.  They range from small "flags" in the
northern sky to wide bands that stretch from one horizon to another.

For ASCII art, you guys represent it nicely.  Well done.

- Joe.
---
        "The time you enjoy wasting is not wasting time." -- T.S. Eliot
                      URL http://www.ee.umanitoba.ca/~djc
D. Joseph Creighton       \ Sr. Programmer, DB Support: Admin Computer Services
Joe...@UManitoba.CA \ University of Manitoba  Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

D. Joseph Creighton <dj...@cc.UManitoba.CA> says:
: I live in the country outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (check your
: maps) and on cloudless nights we are able to see the Northern Lights
: quite clearly and frequently.  They range from small "flags" in the
: northern sky to wide bands that stretch from one horizon to another.

You have two horizons in Manitoba?  Awesome.
--
  disclaimer: the above is likely to refer to anecdotal evidence.
Anton Sherwood   *\\*   +1 415 267 0685   *\\*   DAS...@netcom.com
      put Canter & Siegel out of business: open the borders

D. Joseph Creighton <dj...@cc.UManitoba.CA> says:
: I live in the country outside of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada (check your
: maps) and on cloudless nights we are able to see the Northern Lights
: quite clearly and frequently.  They range from small "flags" in the
: northern sky to wide bands that stretch from one horizon to another.

You have two horizons in Manitoba?  Awesome.
--
  disclaimer: the above is likely to refer to anecdotal evidence.
Anton Sherwood   *\\*   +1 415 267 0685   *\\*   DAS...@netcom.com
      put Canter & Siegel out of business: open the borders

In article <3ekdtp$33...@gagme.wwa.com> ric...@isl.uit.no (Curt Rice) writes:
>
>In article <3ehvm2$sp...@gagme.wwa.com>, jit...@erehwon.caltech.edu (Mike
>Jittlov) wrote:
>
>
>[much deleted]
>> Crosspost/imported from:
>>
>> rec.arts.ascii (moderated) #3503 (6 + 19 more)
>> From: ric...@rs4.tcs.tulane.edu (Dave Rice)
>> [1] Line: Aurora borealis/Northern Lights
>> Date: Fri Dec 30 20:21:39 PST 1994
>> Organization: Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
>> > A few comments on aurora and on the figure:
>>
>> Aurora borealis and its southern counterpart, aurora australis, are phenomena
>> that occur only in the high latitudes, about 65 degrees North or South.
>
>> The glow is not terribly bright, in general.  Thus the glow is seen usually
>> under conditions of low ambient light from other sources.  This means that
>> the sightings are mostly in winter, because it is light all the time in the
>> summer at high latitudes.
>
>>
>> Most auroras are diffuse greenish-white clouds.  These are not so interesting
>> because they resemble clouds lit by moonlight.
>
>This interesting report is reinforced with a great display on the topic
>currently at Tromsoe Museum.  A couple of comments/questions:
>
>I live in Tromsoe during the school year and northern Minnesota during the
>summers.  We routinely see northern lights both places.  No surprise in
>Tromsoe, of course, but Minnesota doesn't fulfill either the latitude or
>season requirements.
>Also, the northern lights in these places are very different.  In Tromsoe
>they're usually green and "vertical", so to say, but in Minnesota they
>tend to be lots of colors, and more spread out through the sky, or if they
>are a sort of stream there, then they often cover a greater portion of the
>sky.
>
>And, as for the diffuse one's not being so interesting.... well, spend a
>few weeks in the dark and I bet they'll be quite welcome!
>
>Curt Rice
>
I agree that all aurora are interesting, but the threshold of what gets
the heart pumping must vary from person to person.

Aurora occur in a circumpolar ring-shaped region centered
on the magnetic pole.  The peak frequency of occurrance occurs over
Fairbanks, Alaska, and, I presume, Tromsoe [Troms0?], because
they are equidistant from the north magnetic pole.
They are rarer further north and south of that
region.  The more spectacular displays cover more area and can be seen
over larger regions of the earth.  NASA (I don't know where or when)
released a really high space photo of the northern hemispere which showed
not only where the sun lit the earth, but also an aurora that filled the
entire circumpolar region.  A more earthly photo is in
National Geographic, November 1991, pp 98-99.  It's a time exposure
as evidenced by the star tracks, but it is a good representation.
The trees are probably black spruce.

Incidentally, aurora occur day and night.  This is known from measuring
induced electric currents in the earth's surface and other means.
It also seems that aurora borealis and aurora australis occur simultan-
eously at either end of a magnetic field line.  This was predicted from
symmetry, and confirmed directly by instrumentation.

Why do the aurora appear different at different latitudes?  Since the
particles that cause the air to glow generally follow the earth's magnetic
field lines, the more northern views, in regions of great magnetic dip,
would be caused by particles coming in more close to vertical than at
lower lattitudes like Minnisota (~45 degrees N) where the particles would
come in at grazing angles.  This may give "curtains" v. "streams."

D. Rice
(no relation to C.R.)


--
  Dave Rice    Biomedical Engineering     504 862 8779 FAX
               Tulane University          504 865 5898 voice
               New Orleans, LA 70118      Dav...@Tulane.edu

Dave Rice <ric...@rs1.tcs.tulane.edu> wrote:
>
>ric...@isl.uit.no (Curt Rice) writes:
>>
>>jit...@erehwon.caltech.edu (Mike Jittlov) wrote:
>>
>>> Aurora borealis and its southern counterpart, aurora australis, are phenomena
>>> that occur only in the high latitudes, about 65 degrees North or South.
>>
>>> The glow is not terribly bright, in general.  Thus the glow is seen usually
>>> under conditions of low ambient light from other sources.  This means that
>>> the sightings are mostly in winter, because it is light all the time in the
>>> summer at high latitudes.
>>
>>> Most auroras are diffuse greenish-white clouds.  These are not so interesting
>>> because they resemble clouds lit by moonlight.
>>
>>This interesting report is reinforced with a great display on the topic
>>currently at Tromsoe Museum.  A couple of comments/questions:
>>
>>I live in Tromsoe during the school year and northern Minnesota during the
>>summers.  We routinely see northern lights both places.  No surprise in
>>Tromsoe, of course, but Minnesota doesn't fulfill either the latitude or
>>season requirements.
>>Also, the northern lights in these places are very different.  In Tromsoe
>>they're usually green and "vertical", so to say, but in Minnesota they
>>tend to be lots of colors, and more spread out through the sky, or if they
>>are a sort of stream there, then they often cover a greater portion of the
>>sky.
>>
>>And, as for the diffuse one's not being so interesting.... well, spend a
>>few weeks in the dark and I bet they'll be quite welcome!
>>
>I agree that all aurora are interesting, but the threshold of what gets
>the heart pumping must vary from person to person.
>
>Aurora occur in a circumpolar ring-shaped region centered
>on the magnetic pole.  The peak frequency of occurrance occurs over
>Fairbanks, Alaska, and, I presume, Tromsoe [Troms0?], because
>they are equidistant from the north magnetic pole.

   There is an incredible time-lapse sequence taken by a polar orbiting
satellite showing the circular nature of the aurora.  It is a rare bit of
video, but worth seeing.  I have never seen anythig like it.

>They are rarer further north and south of that
>region.  The more spectacular displays cover more area and can be seen
>over larger regions of the earth.  NASA (I don't know where or when)
>released a really high space photo of the northern hemispere which showed
>not only where the sun lit the earth, but also an aurora that filled the
>entire circumpolar region.  A more earthly photo is in
>National Geographic, November 1991, pp 98-99.  It's a time exposure
>as evidenced by the star tracks, but it is a good representation.
>The trees are probably black spruce.

   I have also seen a video of the aurora taken with a very special
camera capable of photographing the dimmest of light.  The images of the
aurora are quite amazing, especially to those who have never seen it in
person.

>Incidentally, aurora occur day and night.  This is known from measuring
>induced electric currents in the earth's surface and other means.
>It also seems that aurora borealis and aurora australis occur simultan-
>eously at either end of a magnetic field line.  This was predicted from
>symmetry, and confirmed directly by instrumentation.
>
>Why do the aurora appear different at different latitudes?  Since the
>particles that cause the air to glow generally follow the earth's magnetic
>field lines, the more northern views, in regions of great magnetic dip,
>would be caused by particles coming in more close to vertical than at
>lower lattitudes like Minnisota (~45 degrees N) where the particles would
>come in at grazing angles.  This may give "curtains" v. "streams."

   The particles that couse the aurora are highly charged spewage from
the sun.  Solar wind, traveling at a million miles an hour hits the
earth's atmosphere and gets cought by the magnetic field, where it travels
down to the poles.  The energy level of this event is tremendous.
Probably on the order of billions of watts per second.

   It's interesting to note that the solar wind wildly distorts the
earth's magnetic field, causing it to flatten on the side of the earth
facing the sun, and to form a tale on the other side.  It is what causes
comets to always have their tales facing away from the sun.

--
 .        +      '       .          * .         .     '  )      . +    .
   . ____   _____  ___ .    _____ .  _____    '   .+          .  *  '.
 *  /___/  /____/ /__ \ '  /___  \ '/____/  .   *     ' .   +       .    '+
' . __  + __'   . __| |.* ____/ /  ____'   '     +     .           .'
.'  \ \' / /  . ,/,/| | ./ _  _/. / __/ ' .    '   .  +   :    '    .   *
'____) )/ /__ ,/ /__| | / / \ \  / /__' _____  _____    _______' __  __  __
/_____//____//________|/_/  /_/'/____/ /____/ /___  \ '/ ___  /./ /'/ /./ /
'   .+          . *     '     .   :   __ . + ____/ /. / /. / / / / / / / /.
  .   '     *  .     +   '  .       */ /.  '/ _  _/  / /'*/ /'/ /./ /*/ /. '
.      '  (     .  '      :      +  / /__  / / \ \'./ /__/ / / /_/ /_/ / + '
  '.         .+      .'    *    ' ./____/ /_/  /_/ /______/+/_________/ .'
  .   *     ' .   '       .    '+ .      '   *    .  '      (     +  '.  :
http://gagme.wwa.com/~boba/  "There's enough here [50 pages] to keep us going
  all through the holidays ..." - John T. Kennedy, Internet Today Magazine

In article <3et94n$sd...@gagme.wwa.com>, bob...@wwa.com (Bob Allison) wrote:

>    There is an incredible time-lapse sequence taken by a polar orbiting
> satellite showing the circular nature of the aurora.  It is a rare bit of
> video, but worth seeing.  I have never seen anythig like it.
>
>
>    I have also seen a video of the aurora taken with a very special
> camera capable of photographing the dimmest of light.  The images of the
> aurora are quite amazing, especially to those who have never seen it in
> person.
>

Any tips on how to get access to these videos?

Curt Rice

In article <3ev73u$mf...@gagme.wwa.com>, Curt Rice <ric...@isl.uit.no> wrote:
>
>In article <3et94n$sd...@gagme.wwa.com>, bob...@wwa.com (Bob Allison) wrote:
>
>>    There is an incredible time-lapse sequence taken by a polar orbiting
>> satellite showing the circular nature of the aurora.  It is a rare bit of
>> video, but worth seeing.  I have never seen anythig like it.
>>
>>
>>    I have also seen a video of the aurora taken with a very special
>> camera capable of photographing the dimmest of light.  The images of the
>> aurora are quite amazing, especially to those who have never seen it in
>> person.
>>
>
>Any tips on how to get access to these videos?

   Not off hand.  I would suggest the obvious: check with NASA.

--
.eeeeee..eeeee..eeeeee..eeeeeee..eeeeee..eeeee.eeeeeee...eeeeee..eee..eee..eee
@@@@@@@:@@@@@@:@@@@@@@@:@@@@@@@@:@@@@@@:@@@@@@:@@@@@@@@:@@@@@@@@:@@@::@@@::@@@
%%%-----%%%----%%%--%%%-%%%--%%%-%%%----%%%----%%%--%%%-%%%--%%%-%%%--%%%--%%%
&&&&&&++&&&++++&&&&&&&&+&&&&&&&++&&&&&++&&&++++&&&&&&&++&&&++&&&+&&&++&&&++&&&
*||||||*|||****||||||||*||||||***|||||**|||****||||||***|||**|||*|||**|||**|||
====!!!=!!!====!!!==!!!=!!!=!!!==!!!====!!!====!!!=!!!==!!!==!!!=!!!==!!!==!!!
:::::::#::::::#:::##:::#:::##:::#::::::#::::::#:::##:::#::::::::#:::::::::::::
......@@@.....@...@@...@...@@...@......@@.....@...@@...@@......@@@...........@
http://gagme.wwa.com/~boba/spider.html  "Do not walk. Do not wait. Run.
  Click. Whatever. Go see this place." - VIBE Magazine on the Time-Warner Web
  Named one of "The 12 Best Sites Out There"

Curt Rice (ric...@isl.uit.no) wrote:

: In article <3ehvm2$sp...@gagme.wwa.com>, jit...@erehwon.caltech.edu (Mike
: Jittlov) wrote:


: [much deleted]
: > Crosspost/imported from:
: >
: > rec.arts.ascii (moderated) #3503 (6 + 19 more)
: > From: ric...@rs4.tcs.tulane.edu (Dave Rice)
: > [1] Line: Aurora borealis/Northern Lights
: > Date: Fri Dec 30 20:21:39 PST 1994
: > Organization: Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
: > > A few comments on aurora and on the figure:
: >
: > Aurora borealis and its southern counterpart, aurora australis, are phenomena
: > that occur only in the high latitudes, about 65 degrees North or South.

: This interesting report is reinforced with a great display on the topic
: currently at Tromsoe Museum.  A couple of comments/questions:

: I live in Tromsoe during the school year and northern Minnesota during the
: summers.  We routinely see northern lights both places.  No surprise in
: Tromsoe, of course, but Minnesota doesn't fulfill either the latitude or
: season requirements.

I agree--the whole article seemed to be well-informed, but I disagree
with the 65 degrees requirement.  I'm only around 48-49 and they aren't
too uncommon (not like every week, but maybe a few times every couple
months?)



  //    Geek  Code  v1.0   GE,  GS  d  -p+  c+++(++)  l?   \\
 ||  kei...@Badlands.NoDak.Edu  ||    SURGEON GENERAL'S   ||
 ||  kei...@Plains.NoDak.Edu    ||  WARNING: Intel Inside ||
  \\   u  e+  m  s-/---  n!  h-  f?  !g  w-  t++  r-  y--  //

(help--need new version of Geek Code)

In article <3et94n$sd...@gagme.wwa.com>, Bob Allison <bob...@wwa.com> wrote:
>   The particles that couse the aurora are highly charged spewage from
>the sun.  Solar wind, traveling at a million miles an hour hits the
>earth's atmosphere and gets cought by the magnetic field, where it
>travels down to the poles.  The energy level of this event is tremendous.
>Probably on the order of billions of watts per second.
>
>   It's interesting to note that the solar wind wildly distorts the
>earth's magnetic field, causing it to flatten on the side of the earth
>facing the sun, and to form a tale on the other side.  It is what causes
>comets to always have their tales facing away from the sun.

As a simple-minded child, I always wondered if the solar wind was the
same as magnetic repulsion -- because the comet's tail being blown back
from the sun _precisely_ mimicked the way a sewing pin (head +, point -)
reacted when circling one end (-) of a magnet.  But now that I am a
mature adult and learned in the ways of science, I use that same magnet
to hold notes on my refrigerator, and stick the sewing pins into this
little cloth doll of my repulsive ex-business partner.


BOBoBoBoBoBoBOBoBoBoBoBoBOBoBoBoBoBoBOBoBfNoRdBoBOBoBoBoBoBoBOBoBoBoBoBoBOB
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
!::::'___`:::::::'___`:::::::'___`:::::::'___`:::::::'___`:::::::'___`::::!
!:::'/_ _\`:::::'/_ _\`:::::'/_ _\`:::::'/_ _\`:::::'/_ _\`:::::'/_ _\`:::!
!:::|/ ~ \|`::::|/ ~ \|  `::|/ ~ \|'   `|/ ~ \|::'  |/ ~ \|::::'|/ ~ \|:::!
!:::|'-.-`|  :::|'-.-`|    :|'-.-`|     |'-.-`|:    |'-.-`|:::  |'-.-`|:::!
!:: (|e|e|?   ::(|e|e|? '   (|e|e|? ` ' (|e|e|?   ` (|e|e|?.:   (|e|e|? ::!
!.  `._^_,''   :`._^_,'..'  `._^_,'`...'`._^_,'  `..`._^_,'.   ``._^_,'  .!
!.   \\=//       \\=//       \\=//       \\=//       \\=//       \\=//   .!
:    U/_/        U/_/        U/_/        U/_/        U/_/        U/_/     :
@/      \&~  @/      \&~  @/      \&~  @/      \&~  @/      \&~  @/      \&
Y/\.::./\S\ /Y/\.::./\S\ /Y/\.::./\S\ /Y/\.::./\S\ /Y/\.::./\S\ /Y/\.::./\S
E$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$E
%%%%XX%%%%%%%%%%%XX%%%%%%%%%%%XX%%%%%%%%%%%XX%%%%%%%%%%%XX%%%%%%%%%%%XX%WiZ

In article <3f2loq$1j...@gagme.wwa.com> kei...@badlands.NoDak.edu (Kirk the Eisenbeis) writes:
>
>Curt Rice (ric...@isl.uit.no) wrote:
>
>: In article <3ehvm2$sp...@gagme.wwa.com>, jit...@erehwon.caltech.edu (Mike
>: Jittlov) wrote:
>
>
>: [much deleted]
>: > Crosspost/imported from:
>: >
>: > rec.arts.ascii (moderated) #3503 (6 + 19 more)
>: > From: ric...@rs4.tcs.tulane.edu (Dave Rice)
>: > [1] Line: Aurora borealis/Northern Lights
>: > Date: Fri Dec 30 20:21:39 PST 1994
>: > Organization: Tulane University, New Orleans, LA
>: > > A few comments on aurora and on the figure:
>: >
>: > Aurora borealis and its southern counterpart, aurora australis, are phenomena
>: > that occur only in the high latitudes, about 65 degrees North or South.
>
>: This interesting report is reinforced with a great display on the topic
>: currently at Tromsoe Museum.  A couple of comments/questions:
>
>: I live in Tromsoe during the school year and northern Minnesota during the
>: summers.  We routinely see northern lights both places.  No surprise in
>: Tromsoe, of course, but Minnesota doesn't fulfill either the latitude or
>: season requirements.
>
>I agree--the whole article seemed to be well-informed, but I disagree
>with the 65 degrees requirement.  I'm only around 48-49 and they aren't
>too uncommon (not like every week, but maybe a few times every couple
>months?)
>

Rermber that the 65 degrees is geomagnetic latitude and not
geographic.  The 'magnet inside the earth' is, unfortunately, not
lined up with the earth's rotational axis.

The auroral region is defined as the region from 60 to 75 deg dipole latitude
(International Auroral Atlas, 1963).

You must keep in mind that the whole phenomenon is an extremely
dynamic one, so aurora in Mexico (or at your location) isn't _that_ sensational.
Sometimes the auroral zone has to widen considerably to be able to
digest all the energy that in inbound... and then of course it is seen
at lower latitudes.

The auroral zone is more like an oval, and the earth is rotating
underneath (not _with_) this oval, so there is a dependency on local
as well as universal time.  In addition, there is a 11 yr cycle, a semi-annual
variation (maxima at equinoxes), 27-30 day periodicities and so on.
Some say there is a longitudinal variation too! (I think this has
even been confirmed and explained)

Some usenet sci. newsgroups have Auroral Alert postings in case
you want advance warning there might be aurora tonight.

T.
--
Trond Steinar Trondsen                           VE6NOR/LA1OEA
___________________________________________ o ________________________________
                                           /~> | University of Calgary/Physics
E-mail: tro...@phys.ucalgary.ca         o....<\ | Institute  for Space Research

jit...@erehwon.caltech.edu (Mike Jittlov) writes:
: As a simple-minded child, I always wondered if the solar wind was the
: same as magnetic repulsion -- because the comet's tail being blown back
: from the sun _precisely_ mimicked the way a sewing pin (head +, point -)
: reacted when circling one end (-) of a magnet.  But now that I am a
: mature adult and learned in the ways of science, I use that same magnet
: to hold notes on my refrigerator, and stick the sewing pins into this
: little cloth doll of my repulsive ex-business partner.

Mike, you should be ashamed of yourself - that's plain voodoo!  :-)
--
/Kari

tro...@smith.phys.ucalgary.ca (Trond Steinar Trondsen) writes:


>Some usenet sci. newsgroups have Auroral Alert postings in case
>you want advance warning there might be aurora tonight.

Or try this:

finger aur...@xi.uleth.ca

and you will get an hourly auroral activity status report! :-)

Cheers
Tony
           __                                              __
        __/\_\       .             Tony Nugent            /_/\__
     __/\_\/_/   _--_|\        Griffith University        \_\/_/\__
    /\_\/_/\_\  /     *\ Brisbane, Queensland, Australia  /_/\_\/_/\
    \/_/\_\/_/  \_.--._/   tnu...@gucis.cit.gu.edu.au    \_\/_/\_\/
       \/_/\_\        v       T.N...@sct.gu.edu.au      /_/\_\/
          \/_/                                            \_\/

Einstein told me that Tony Nugent  <T.N...@sct.gu.edu.au> wrote:
>
>tro...@smith.phys.ucalgary.ca (Trond Steinar Trondsen) writes:
>
>>Some usenet sci. newsgroups have Auroral Alert postings in case
>>you want advance warning there might be aurora tonight.
>
>Or try this:
>
>finger aur...@xi.uleth.ca
>
>and you will get an hourly auroral activity status report! :-)


   Also, the Northern Light Planetarium is on the Web.  The URL is:

http://www.uit.no/npt/homepage-npt.en.html

   And as an anchor for those of you reader in a browser:

<a href=http://www.uit.no/npt/homepage-npt.en.html>Northern Lights
Planetarium</a>

--
 .        +      '       .          * .         .     '         . +    .
     ___   ____   __  _____  . ____    ____  _____  '  ____   __  __  __
  '     |      |    \'      \       \      |       \        \   \   \   | '.
'  .  ( .   | '. /_  |  |_  /    |_  |  | .    |_  /    /.   |         /
  ___   \   |__       \     \__   ___   |__ '      \__  \_   |    |   |. '
'       /.     |/      \|      |     |     |.  |      |     /.   /   /  . +
  .   '     *  .     +   '  .      * '       :        +      .  '    *    .

In <3f75t0$5l...@gagme.wwa.com> yli...@vat-vai.valmet.com (Kari Yli-Kuha) writes:


>jit...@erehwon.caltech.edu (Mike Jittlov) writes:
>: As a simple-minded child, I always wondered if the solar wind was the
>: same as magnetic repulsion -- because the comet's tail being blown back
>: from the sun _precisely_ mimicked the way a sewing pin (head +, point -)
>: reacted when circling one end (-) of a magnet.  But now that I am a
>: mature adult and learned in the ways of science, I use that same magnet
>: to hold notes on my refrigerator, and stick the sewing pins into this
>: little cloth doll of my repulsive ex-business partner.

>Mike, you should be ashamed of yourself - that's plain voodoo!  :-)

Yeah, but is it working, that is what I wanna know...
Any news on the health status of your repulsive ex-business partner, Mike?
Are you making more money than he/she? Less?

What I like in the story is the sign of optimism and positive thinking.
Once you discover that your previous beliefs are of no use and
lead only to strange habits, you try turning it to some use!
>--

>/Kari