mardi, janvier 10, 2006

Aurora Borealis : The Northern Lights





It's a celestial phenomenon of bands, curtains or streamers of coloured light that appear in the sky in the Arctic and Antarctic regions of the earth. In the Antarctic, the lights are called the Aurora Australis, literally Southern Lights. They are visible also outside those zones however with less frequency. In Finnish they are called "revontulet", which means "fox fires" a name derived from an ancient fable of the arctic fox starting fires fire or spraying up snow with its brush-like tail.
What is the scientific explanation of this extraordinary phenomenon?
"The sun gives off high-energy charged particles (also called ions) that travel out into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. A cloud of such particles is called a plasma. The stream of plasma coming from the sun is known as the solar wind. As the solar wind interacts with the edge of the earth's magnetic field, some of the particles are trapped by it and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the ionosphere, the section of the earth's atmosphere that extends from about 60 to 600 kilometres above the earth's surface. When the particles collide with the gases in the ionosphere they start to glow, producing the spectacle that we know as the auroras, northern and southern. The array of colours consists of red, green, blue and violet."
Personnally, I hope someday to have the opportunity to visit a scandinavian country in order to see this phenomenon, but also to discover the scandinavian culture which really fascinates me.
You can check this small video Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights .
Many songs have been written to describe the magnificency of Aurora Borealis.
One of these songs, is this one : Aurora Borealis by Eternal Tears of Sorrow, which I've already posted a song for them earlier.
Aurora Borealis
Under a darkened sun they are born
When the moon is losing its shape
I'm here again to see
The nightly dance of the flames
Once my father bore his sword
To defend the clan till the end
Now he braves the battles
Between the red northern flames
In the silence of the night
I stare at those ancient lights
Which enlighten the way from the cradle
And lead warriors into the grave
They have always been
And they will never change
They light the fire of a soul
And keep it burning bright
And behind the scattered clouds
The star field of the sky
Brings back the dreams
I already lost
Shall I ever be like him
The brave warrior of the night,
Whose name will be written
In the northern lights

4 commentaires:

Joumana a dit…

Il faut aller les voir en Islande :) Mais pas en été, quand le soleil ne se couche pas...

nobilis tobilis a dit…

oui en effet, ils ont des interminables jours en été et interminables nuits en hiver. Sinon, tu les as déjà vus?

Joumana a dit…

Les aurores boréales? Non, je suis allée en Islande à la période où le soleil ne se couche pas du tout, mais j'aimerais beaucoup y retourner en hiver, c'est tellement beau.

nobilis tobilis a dit…

j'ai pris ma décision. J'irai l'année prochaine.