Earth and Aurora from Space (Picture)

kitten_caboodle · 14 Mar 2006 at 11:32

fantastic, always wanted to see the northern lights.

Sic · 14 Mar 2006 at 11:34

Pickers said:
They had some great images (I think last year) that were 3d if you had those green/red specs.

there's some totally fantastic ones on there. anyone interested, even remotely, in this subject should definitely check that site.

valerian · 14 Mar 2006 at 11:34

how insignificant we are

Kelv · 14 Mar 2006 at 11:36

Nice!

Loving that Pic... Does kinda look like someone's coloured it in with a green pen tho....

Kelv.

jezsoup · 14 Mar 2006 at 11:41

Ive just been doing soem googlign on the auoras and found this site, some awesome pcitures and taken in scotland http://www.smeter.net/aurora/1-21-05-jim-henderson.php

AJUK · 14 Mar 2006 at 11:51

Nice.

I never knew it was possible to see the northern lights as far south as Scotland.

aardvark · 14 Mar 2006 at 13:22

Pickers said:
Atomic oxygen emits at red and green wavelengths. The actual color and intensity will depend on the geomagnetic activity, and the altitude in the atmosphere (hence the concentration of emitting atom population).

Do a search for "shuttle glow" or "atomic oxygen"

i know that, its just that the site is a bit misleading - it says: 'The ring of light that the solar storm generated over Antarctica glows green in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, shown in this image.'

what does this mean?? - is it green or is it ultraviolet - it can't be both!

Pickers · 14 Mar 2006 at 14:09

aardvark said:
i know that, its just that the site is a bit misleading - it says: 'The ring of light that the solar storm generated over Antarctica glows green in the ultraviolet part of the spectrum, shown in this image.'

what does this mean?? - is it green or is it ultraviolet - it can't be both!

I guess its a UV image :confused:

aardvark · 14 Mar 2006 at 14:13

but ultra violet light is invisible

Greenlizard0 · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:13

Woah cool! Anybody have any other images?

DJammyRasta · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:49

cool.. yes i definately have to see all the pretty things the planet can do... before humanity messes them up

Pickers · 14 Mar 2006 at 15:52

aardvark said:
but ultra violet light is invisible

Only to the naked eye. Whack on some filters or image enchancers and the wavelength gets converted down/up to an optical wavelength.

Picture above I took of a YAG laser which shines at a wavelength of 2940nm (mid infra-red). I found that my camera phone CCD detected the invisible IR light and converted to the violet hue you see above.

Same principle can show up UV light - it all depends on the wavelength sensitivity of the recording medium.

If you have a digi camera / phone camera try pointing it at the IR sender on a TV remote and pressing a button on the remote.

VaderDSL · 14 Mar 2006 at 16:04

Pickers said:
Snip

Dare you to put your hand in front of it

Hehe, that looks like some seriosuly powerful equipment there though

Pickers · 14 Mar 2006 at 16:10

VaderDSL said:
Dare you to put your hand in front of it

Hehe, that looks like some seriosuly powerful equipment there though

I did actually (by mistake) - though I didnt realise till I felt a tingle and could smell that unique burnt hair smell.
It was quite a daunting lab experiement. Had to sign health declarations, learn safety procedures, have an eye exam and got a quiet room all to myself.
Spent hours in that room getting the damn thing to lase - and when it did the fire alarm went and I had to shut everything off. Happy days!