Documentary: The Pole of Cold (Video)

 This time James Brown is visiting Russia’s remote region Yakutia. This place is known as probably the coldest in the world – in winter, temperatures go down to minus 50 degrees Celsius. But people here are really warm and full of energy!
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The northern lights from space (IMAGE/VIDEO)

 The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, are bright dazzling displays in the sky that occur when gaseous particles collide. They can be seen from many places on Earth but are visible nearly every night nearer to the North Pole. The South Pole has its own lights called aurora australis.

AURORA BOREALIS IN THE NORTH

Scientists and Auroras

Scientists have spent many hours studying these lights, trying to understand how it came to be. One of the early theories was that the Northern lights are a reflection of the light from the ice caps. The first scientist who started seriously studying this phenomenon was Galileo Galilei who came up with the name aurora borealis borrowing names from Aurora, the Roman goddess of the dawn, and Boreas, Greek name for the northern wind.

Auroras on Other Planets

Because there are magnetic fields on other planets in the Solar System and deep atmosphere on Jupiter and Saturn, the gas giants, they have spectacular auroras. Mars also has auroras, although much weaker than on Earth.

Where to Go to See It?

The best places to view auroras are high northern latitudes during the winter, Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia. During very large solar activity events, the aurora may be seen throughout the US and Europe, but these events are rare. The furthest it has been recorded was in Mexico City back in 1958.

Natural Attraction

 

Various debris, radiation, and other magnetic waves from space attack Earth daily. Without a shield, there would be no life on the Earth. Our planet’s magnetic field does a good job of protecting us and deflecting the deadly rays, including the ones from the Sun. When the particles approach the globe, they are drawn to the poles.

 

What Are the Northern Lights?

 

Solar wind or particles from the Sun rush towards the Earth at a tremendous speed of 90 miles per second on a journey of 93 million miles through space to tackle the Earth. When they enter the Earth’s atmosphere, they are mixed with oxygen and nitrogen gases and create light.