For the first time, American scientists have verified the principle of producing the Northern Lights in the laboratory.

The Northern Lights (aurora borealis or northern lights) may be one of the most magical and gorgeous sights in nature. It is graceful, varied and unpredictable, like giant colorful silk dancing on the horizon, attracting endless reverie and yearning.

Many tourists also go to countries close to the Arctic, such as Nordic Iceland, Finland, Norway and other countries, to watch this magnificent scene.

There is also folklore that says that people who can see the Northern Lights are lucky, because the appearance of the Aurora needs to meet certain conditions.

But scientists have been unable to prove how the light waves that flicker in the sky are generated.

Researchers at the University of Iowa have now discovered that the Northern Lights are produced by powerful electromagnetic waves during geomagnetic storms. Moreover, they demonstrated the principle of aurora production in the laboratory.

Researchers have discovered that electromagnetic waves, also known as Alfvén waves, accelerate electrons toward Earth, causing the particles to manifest as light, which is what we see as the Northern Lights.

House, an associate professor of physics and astronomy at the University of Iowa, explained that the measurements showed that a small number of electrons undergo "oscillation acceleration" driven by the Alfvén electromagnetic field, similar to a surfer chasing waves. In surfing, the wave is constantly accelerating as it moves.

Simply put, the Northern Lights are caused by the interaction of the solar wind (charged particles escaping the sun) with the Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere.

Generally speaking, auroras often appear over areas at latitudes close to the geomagnetic poles. There are three conditions required for the generation of aurora: atmosphere, magnetic field, and high-energy charged particles.

Modern physics describes the principle of auroras as follows: Auroras on the earth are caused by charged high-energy particles from the magnetosphere and solar wind being guided by the geomagnetic field into the earth's atmosphere and interacting with particles in the upper atmosphere. Luminescence caused by atomic collisions.

Scientists were able to confirm this discovery by recreating this natural phenomenon at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Large Plasma Device Laboratory.

They used a 20-meter-long room to simulate the Earth's magnetic field.

House explained that they used a specially designed antenna that then fired Alfvén waves at the machine, a bit like shaking a rubber hose for watering your garden up and down rapidly, and watched the waves follow the hose. move.

House added that although the experiment could not reproduce the colorful light, they found from calculations that they could prove that "electrons on Alfvén waves can be accelerated to form electrons that form auroras."

Scientists in the United States said they were happy to hear the news.

NASA's Cohen said he was very excited about it. He said it's rare to see laboratory experiments that validate theories or models in the space environment.

He also said that this would help people better understand space weather conditions.

"It will also be useful for space weather forecasting, which is something NASA is very interested in.

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