Latest news with #Auroras
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Aurora on Mars? The Martian night sky turned green in a stunning first
Green ethereal light taking over the sky on the red planet? It might sound like a fictitious dream, but, according to NASA, it has turned out to be true! An aurora gently glowing in wavelengths visible to the human eye has been captured on Mars for the first time – and a robot was the only one to see it live. On March 18, 2024, as the Perseverance rover was simply hanging about, the night sky over Jezero Crater turned a faint, luminous green. What the Perseverance rover recorded opens new ways to study Mars. Now, Mars is known to have auroras of various kinds. However, all the others we've seen have been in invisible hues of ultraviolet. As physicist Elise Wright Knutsen of the University of Oslo explained to a science journal, "Auroras are the visible manifestations of how our Sun affects planets. The confirmation that visible auroras on Mars exist opens up new, hopefully simpler and cheaper, ways that we can study these processes. " She added, "So far, we have only reported our very first detection of this green emission, but observations of auroras can tell us a lot about how the Sun's particles are interacting with Mars's magnetosphere and upper atmosphere." The research has been published in Science Advances. How is Aurora formed? Auroras, like the Northern and Southern Lights, are formed when charged particles from the sun (solar wind) interact with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Google Brain Co-Founder Andrew Ng, Recommends: Read These 5 Books And Turn Your Life Around Blinkist: Andrew Ng's Reading List Undo These particles, primarily electrons and protons, are ejected from the sun's corona and travel towards Earth. Earth's magnetic field deflects most of these particles, but some are guided towards the poles, where they collide with atmospheric gases like oxygen and nitrogen. Now, when the particles collide with other materials, they release energy and create a glow. The color of this glow depends on various factors. Aurora on Mars? Every planet in the Solar System has its own type of aurora, but the auroras on Mars are particularly fascinating. Auroras occur when energetic particles from space interact with a planet's particles, usually in the atmosphere, with a magnetic field playing a key role. Mars has a very thin atmosphere, only about 2% as dense as Earth's. Additionally, Mars has a weak and patchy magnetic field that only exists in certain areas where magnetized minerals in the crust still hold traces of the magnetic field it once had. This is different from the strong protective magnetic field that surrounds Earth. Despite this, these localized magnetic patches can still create auroras. When the solar wind blows in the right direction, these patches can cause the Martian atmosphere to glow in ultraviolet light. Researchers studying these UV auroras, led by Knutsen, discovered that the Martian atmosphere is more complex than it appears. Knutsen explained, "We've been observing auroras on Mars for 20 years, but all our observations have been in ultraviolet light. By looking at different wavelengths, we can use quantum mechanics to determine if a certain type of glow suggests that other colors should also be present, even if we can't see them directly. For instance, a specific ultraviolet emission at 297 nanometers indicated that green light should also be there. " Motivated by these discoveries, Knutsen and her team tried to find the green light. This was not easy. Most instruments on Mars are designed for daytime observations, not for detecting faint glows at night. Moreover, auroras on Mars are much fainter than those on Earth. The best chance to see them is right after a major solar event, like a coronal mass ejection. This requires quick action, which Mars satellites aren't always ready for. However, on March 15, 2024, during a coronal mass ejection, everything lined up perfectly. The Perseverance rover had the instruments needed to detect the light they wanted, and a team of scientists was prepared to take immediate action. Days after the solar event, the researchers recorded an increase in light from the Martian night sky at a wavelength of 557.7 nanometers, which is the visible glow of ionized oxygen. Knutsen noted that even though the green aurora on Mars is the same color as the green aurora on Earth, it looks entirely different. "On Earth, we see structured ribbons and shapes in the auroras. But on Mars, the green aurora lights up the whole sky uniformly, no matter where you are," she said. However, even if we were on Mars, we might not see this green glow with our own eyes because our vision struggles to see colors in low light. It will be interesting to see what future Mars explorers experience when they arrive. This was the team's fourth attempt to capture this phenomenon using Perseverance, suggesting that other factors influence whether a solar event creates a visible aurora on Mars. The team plans to continue observing to understand how auroras occur and what patterns may arise. Knutsen expressed her excitement for future research, saying, "I'm very interested in finding out what types of solar storms create this aurora. Plus, it's just really fun to imagine the red planet glowing green!" Hawaii: Chopper peers into cone of erupting volcano
The Verge
08-05-2025
- The Verge
Here's Alienware's fresh take on entry-level gaming laptops
Alienware is introducing a pair of new, more affordable gaming laptops: the Aurora 16 and 16X, starting at $1,149 and $1,949, respectively. Unlike the flagship Area-51 laptops announced back at CES, the Auroras are meant to be a little more versatile, portable, and comfortable for general laptop use. They replace the older Alienware M, X, and cheaper Dell G lines — which will be slowly phased out as part of Dell's streamlining of its product lines. Some configurations of the Aurora 16 and 16X are launching today in North America, with additional models arriving later. The duo of indigo-colored 16-inch laptops are lighter, smaller, and cheaper than the 16- and 18-inch Area-51 models. They're still pretty hefty at around 5.5 to 5.86 pounds, but much lighter compared to the 7.6 to 10 pounds of the Area-51. And the new models even have a stealth mode button that switches the RGB lighting to a simpler white light and tones down the fans. The Auroras get their name from one of Alienware's desktop lines, but they're meant to be taken places, as the 16 and 16X were designed to fit in a backpack thanks to a lack of thermal shelf (the big butt behind the hinge many gaming laptops have). Instead, the Auroras have a protruding bump beneath their chassis where their fans pull in air. Spec-wise, both laptops have 16-inch displays, but the Aurora 16 starts has a 300-nit 120Hz 2560 x 1600 IPS panel, while the 16X has the same resolution but gets up to 500 nits and 240Hz refresh rate. The Auroras have two USB-A, two USB-C, HDMI 2.1, Ethernet, a 3.5mm combo audio jack, a proprietary power plug, and Wi-Fi 7. Each has its ports on the left and rear, freeing up the right side for unhindered mouse movements while gaming. One of the USB-C ports on the 16X gets faster Thunderbolt 4 and DisplayPort 2.1 instead of just USB 3.2 Gen 2. Both laptops can be outfitted with up to an Nvidia RTX 5070 GPU, but for CPUs, the 16 gets Intel 'Raptor Lake Refresh' chips — based on architecture from 2022 — while the 16X has the latest Intel 'Arrow Lake' configurations up to the Core Ultra 9 275HX. While the Aurora 16 starts at a very low price that's more akin to a MacBook Air, its starting config has a two-generations-old RTX 3050 GPU and just 8GB of RAM. That's a pretty old GPU for a new laptop in mid-2025 and a shockingly low amount of RAM for any Windows notebook above $1,000, let alone a gaming laptop. Even Apple's base models now give you more. The Aurora 16 can of course be purchased with more RAM than that, and the 16X starts with a more respectable 16GB and RTX 5060. Dell-owned Alienware is angling these new models at gamers on a budget or those who can only justify one device for both play and work (or school). I just can't help finding it funny that, between Alienware and its parent company Dell, it's actually Alienware with the clearer and more pleasant-sounding naming scheme. Somehow, the try-hard gaming brand with an alien head logo understands that names are better than a mish-mash of Plus, Premium, Pro, and Max.
Time of India
24-04-2025
- Science
- Time of India
Northern Lights to appear in 8 US States tonight: Last chance to see Aurora Borealis this week
When and where to spot Northern Lights in the US? Live Events How to photograph the Northern Lights? What causes the Aurora Borealis? Why are we seeing more Auroras? FAQs The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has forecast that the aurora borealis may be visible across parts of the United States on Thursday night. It could be the last chance to view the northern lights this NOAA said that the northern lights will be visible across eight northern US states with a Kp index of three, indicating moderate geomagnetic northern lights are expected to be seen across the northern US and parts of southern Canada. Areas where aurora can be seen include northeastern Washington, northern Idaho, and northern Montana. This, according to a Forbes report, extends across North Dakota and Minnesota, especially the southern parts of the the aurora borealis would be visible in northern Wisconsin and Michigan's Upper Peninsula. The report further observed that Canada and Alaska will likely enjoy clearer views, as NOAA, reportedly, has suggested that the best time to witness the aurora is between 10 pm and 2 am local time, when the sky is darkest. A north-facing, elevated spot away from the urban cityscape, replete with lights, offers the best viewing skies must be clear for maximum to the reports, experts advise the stargazers to use a DSLR camera with a wide-angle lens if they wish to capture the northern lights. They recommend setting an aperture of f/4 or lower and focusing to smartphones, they suggested enabling night mode and disabling flash. They further stated that long exposures help capture the full colour spectrum of the auroras—from green and red to occasional hues of pink and per a USA Today report, the aurora results from electrically charged particles, which are emitted from the sun, colliding with oxygen and nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere. As solar flare particles or coronal mass ejections interact with the magnetosphere of Earth, this energy is then transferred in the form of glowing displays of USA Today report added that the altitude and the composition of the atmosphere determine what colours the viewers are now at the height of the sun's 11-year cycle, called the solar maximum . At this point, heightened solar activity, such as sunspots, flares, and plasma ejections, directs more charged particles toward our collisions create geomagnetic storms that drive auroras south of their usual range. The cycle should continue through early 2026, providing additional chances to view the (April 24) is the optimal opportunity. NOAA predicts the auroral activity to subside over the weekend, with reduced Kp index values predicted for Friday and minor to moderate radio blackouts can result from heightened solar radiation, impacting high-frequency communication.
Express Tribune
11-04-2025
- Science
- Express Tribune
NASA astronaut shares mesmerising aurora videos from space
Listen to article Veteran NASA astronaut Don Pettit has released breathtaking videos of green auroras captured from the International Space Station (ISS), revealing a dazzling view of Earth's atmospheric phenomena from above. The 69-year-old astronaut shared several clips this week on X (formerly Twitter), showcasing vibrant green ribbons of light glowing beneath the ISS as it flew over the southern hemisphere between Australia and Antarctica. Formation flying; Starlink satellites tracing parallel lines in the sky. Thanks to @BabakTafreshi for assembling this clip from timelapse images. — Don Pettit (@astro_Pettit) April 11, 2025 Auroras, commonly known as the Northern and Southern Lights, occur when charged particles from the Sun — often released during coronal mass ejections (CMEs) — collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere. These collisions excite oxygen and nitrogen molecules, producing glowing lights in green, red, blue, or pink. NASA explains that auroras are most visible near the poles, where the Earth's magnetic field is strongest. From space, these phenomena are not only visible but often more dramatic. Pettit, currently on his fourth mission aboard the ISS, also posted a timelapse of Elon Musk's Starlink satellites moving in formation, and a rare video of upper atmospheric lightning, known as Transient Luminous Events (TLEs), above the Amazon. These brief flashes include exotic phenomena like sprites and blue jets. Earlier this week, Pettit also filmed the station's rotation during a Soyuz docking manoeuvre that brought astronauts Jonny Kim, Sergei Ryzhikov, and Alexei Zubritsky to the ISS for an eight-month mission. The spacecraft's arrival required the ISS to rotate 180 degrees, flying backwards at 17,500mph — allowing for more stunning aurora footage. Widely praised for his visual storytelling from orbit, Pettit has logged over 370 days in space and more than 13 hours of spacewalks. His latest clips, described by fans as 'phenomenal' and 'timelapse gold,' have sparked calls for a documentary compilation of his work. He is expected to return to Earth later this month along with Russian cosmonauts Aleksey Ovchinin and Ivan Vagner.
