The Mysterious Origin of the Northern Lights 北極光的神秘來源

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The aurora borealis， or Northern Lights， could easily be described as Earth’s greatest light show. A phenomenon that’s exclusive to the higher latitudes has had scientists in awe and wonder for centuries.

A group of physicists from the University of Iowa in the US have proven that the “most brilliant auroras are produced by powerful electromagnetic waves during geomagnetic storms，” according to a study.

The study shows that these phenomena， also known as Alfvén waves， accelerate electrons toward Earth， causing the particles to produce the light show we know as the Northern Lights.

“Measurements revealed this small population of electrons undergoes ‘resonant acceleration’ by the Alfvén wave’s electric field， similar to a surfer catching a wave and being continually accelerated as the surfer moves along with the wave，” said Greg Howes， associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa and co-author of the study.

This idea of electrons “surfing” on the electric field is a theory first introduced in 1946 by a Soviet physicist， Lev Landau， that was named Landau damping. His theory has now been proven.

北極光經(jīng)常被描述為地球上最盛大的“燈光秀”。（剩余3918字）