FAQ
What is the aurora?
The aurora borealis, or Northern Lights, is a spectacular display of moving lights in the night sky, usually above the Arctic or Antarctic but occasionally seen at mid to low latitudes during exceptional times of solar activity.
The aurora occurs when energetic particles (mostly protons and electrons) are accelerated into the Earth's upper atmosphere, along magnetic field lines. The Earth's magnetic field,is like a bar magnet, a so-called 'dipole field', with a north and south pole. The field lines emerge from the Earth at the north and south magnetic poles. Electrified particles such as protons and electrons, can stream along these field lines, like beads on a wire. On entering the Earth's upper atmosphere, they collide with the gasses there, making them glow in characteristic colours - similar to the way electricity is used to make the gasses glow in a neon sign. This occurs high in the Earth's atmosphere, on the edge of space. The most common colours are green and red, emitted by excited oxygen atoms. Green aurora occurs around 120 km while red aurora is much higher, around 240 km. The aurora lights up the magnetic field along which the energetic particles have been accelerated, generating the swirling patterns and curtains characteristic of the aurora.
What is Space Weather?
Space weather is the study of the Sun and Solar wind and how this affects the Earth's space environment and modern technology. A great introduction to the subject can be found at the following link;
Could Solar Storms Destroy Civilization? Solar Flares & Coronal Mass Ejections.
Where is Kiruna?
Kiruna is a mining town in the far north of Sweden. It has been chosen for making optical observations of the aurora because it is inside the Arctic Circle, where aurora are most frequently seen, and has a climate that favours clear skies.
How do I add tags to an image?
While not the main task of this project, there may well be additional features in the image such as the moon, aurora, aircraft, satellites and so on that it would be useful to note.
Once you have selected a category for the image, select 'Done & Talk' which will send you to a page in which you can add descriptive words in a text box. In order for this to be searchable in the database, the words used need to be the same for everyone. In the text box type # to reveal the official tags (such as #aurora or #moon). Use one of these if you can. If, however, you have seen something in an image that is not covered by these tags, you are free to use your own. If you do, please also put a comment in the forum so that others can adopt the same tag.
For example, hashtags that are useful for the above image would be #aurora #moon #horizoncloud and #satellite.