A group of Canadian and American researchers has proposed an explanation for a mysterious phenomenon that is occasionally observed in the night sky along with the northern lights, the University of Calgary reported. The interaction between energetic particles from the Sun and Earth’s atmospheric gases, such as oxygen and nitrogen, causes the appearance of brilliant trails of visible light in the polar regions of our planet, known as the northern lights.
This natural spectacle is sometimes accompanied by a patch of shades between white and gray. However, although it has been mentioned in previous research, scientists never delved deeper into this anomalous emission.
A study published in the journal Nature Communications describes for the first time this phenomenon, scientifically called ‘continuous structured emission’. Researcher Emma Spanswick explains that this white spot is a source of heat (energy), indicating that the northern lights are more complex than previously thought.
Specialists’ interest in continuous structured emission arose from the discovery of another phenomenon associated with the northern lights, called ‘strong thermal emission velocity enhancement’ (STEVE), which manifests itself as a structure between mauve and gray tones. According to Spanswick, there are similarities in the elevation of the spectrum of both phenomena. Unlike STEVE, which is observed as a separate band in the sky, the white spots are embedded in the auroras themselves, making their identification and analysis more difficult.
With information from VTV
