The Northern Lights begin their formation from supersonic plasma, which the Sun launches into space in the form
"Most electrons in the magnetosphere are notreach a part of the upper atmosphere called the ionosphere because they are repelled by the Earth's magnetic field. We don't know all the details of how the electric field that accelerates electrons into the ionosphere is generated, or even how high it is above the Earth."
Shun Imajo of Nagoya University's Earth and Space Environmental Research Institute
But some particles get a burst of energyaccelerating in the upper atmosphere of the Earth, where they collide and excite oxygen and nitrogen atoms at an altitude of about 100 kilometers. When these atoms come out of their state of excitement, they radiate a radiance. However, many details of this process remain a mystery.
Scientists have suggested that the acceleration of electronsoccurs at an altitude of 1,000 to 20,000 kilometers above the Earth. But new research has shown that the area of acceleration extends beyond 30,000 kilometers.
The electric field accelerating the auroralparticles, can exist at any height along the magnetic field line and is not limited to the transition region between the ionosphere and magnetosphere at a distance of several thousand kilometers. This suggests that currently unknown magnetospheric mechanisms are at work here.
The team came to this conclusion after examining data froman electron detector on the Japanese satellite Arase, which studies the radiation belt in the Earth's inner magnetosphere. The data was obtained when the satellite was at an altitude of about 30,000 kilometers and was within a thin active auroral arc for several minutes. The team was able to measure the upward and downward movements of the electrons, ultimately finding that the region of acceleration of the electrons begins above the satellite and extends below it.
For further study of this so-calleda very large acceleration area, the team intends to analyze data from several auroral phenomena, compare observations at high and low altitudes, and conduct numerical simulations of the electric potential.
Understanding how this electrical is formedfield, will fill in the gaps in knowledge about how auroral radiation appears and electrons and protons are transported on Earth and other planets, including Jupiter and Saturn.
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