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Student Observation
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Auroral FriendsFrom Satellites
Live From The Aurora
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Auroras are present all of the time. When the Earth's magnetosphere is calm and stable,
the aurora at the North and South poles are roughly over the Arctic and Antarctic Circle and are dim even in dark,
remote wilderness. The oval is slightly toward the night side of the Earth. When the Earth's magnetic
field is disturbed by especially energetic solar winds, the auroral oval moves outward from the
poles and becomes brighter. Obviously, auroras cannot be seen during the day, no matter how energetic
they are. The most energetic auroras can extend as far south as Texas in North America,
and can be seen through the light pollution of cities.
While ground observers are important for confirmation of auroras and how bright they are, several NASA satellites will be useful in determining the brightness and location of auroras. The ones we will use are Polar, TIMED and IMAGE. If you are just getting started, click on "How To Obtain and Interpret Satellite Data: Part I". When you become comfortable interpreting data in Part I, you can make more advanced observations by going to "How To Obtain and Interpret Satellite Data: Part II". All of the times given in the images are in Universal Time. Click here for conversions from Universal Time. Let's Get Started! |
