An aurora, called aurora borealis in the northern hemisphere and aurora australis in the Southern Hemisphere, a luminous phenomenon is characterized by a kind of extremely colorful sails into the night sky. These bright veils appear as a diffuse light curtain resembling a cloud brighter than the others that will begin to move very quickly and escalate until you see lines of light impressive several thousand kilometers, "said Christopher Perez (photographer hunter aurora borealis).
This veil is caused by the interaction between charged particles of solar wind and the upper atmosphere, aurorae occur primarily in areas near the magnetic poles in an annular area aptly named "auroral zone" (between 65 and 75 ° magnetic latitude). It will thus form in regions of high latitudes of the Earth and appear in many different forms. The length of the aurora may be several thousands of kilometers, but its width can not exceed 100 meters.
The underlying mechanisms for creating such auroras are a subject of study that take in breath scientists for years where THEMIS below. nota : The Sun ejects not only photons, but also protons and electrons that are extremely energetic solar wind. | | 
* Circle of the auroras australis in the southern hemisphere | | 
* Circle of the auroras borealis in the north hemisphere |
This phenomenon is of for the arrival of particles in charge of ejected by the Sun which collides with the magnetic shield of the Earth. These particles electrified in high energy are then got and channeled by the lines of the ground magnetic field towards polar circles.
These electrons and sometimes protons incite or ionize the atoms of the high atmosphere ( the ionosphere).
The incited atoms, cannot stay in this state, an electron which changes layer, frees a photon.
This ionization provokes the formation of the auroral bow, the color of which depends on ionized atoms and on the height where from the variations of tints which we perceive in the sky at heights included between 80 and 1 000 km. * Aurora by Gilles Boutin, hunter of Northern Lights of the Quebec www.banditdenuit.com | | 
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So that the polar auroras are visible on a planet, it has to be surrounded with a magnetic field, to divert the particles of the solar wind towards the magnetic poles, the dawns will seem then on an oval everything around a magnetic pole, that's why we have to can observe them only in certain latitudes, notably near the poles. Furthermore it has to have an atmosphere, so that there is emission of light by electric shock with the constituents of this atmosphere, the color depending on the nature of the met gas.
The effects are not the same on the other planets. For example, on Jupiter, the dawns are ultraviolet while on Earth they are green or red.
The dawns are predictable between one and four days before, but the forecasts remain less precise than the atmospheric weather report. When a solar flare takes place, we measure the intensity of X-rays emitted during this eruption, we are going to deduct an estimate from it of the solar wind speed (X-rays of range X: 1 day, of range M: 2 days, of range C between 3 and 4 days).
The more the eruption is powerful, the more the solar wind risks to be fast.
The solar wind will have to move in the direction of the Earth, to have dawns. We are going to measure also the density, the speed and the solar wind energy thanks to a satellite (ACE) situated between the sun and the earth. | | If the solar wind is very powerful (range X), the auroral oval (centered on the magnetic pole) will be very wide and there will be then chances to see the height of the dawns since the average latitudes, in France for example (in 2003, a dawn was seen since Greece). The solar wind will also have to be very dense so that the luminosity is maximum.
The Earth being round, if we are far from the auroral oval we shall see only the height of the "curtain".
The color depends on the composition of the atmosphere. If there is electric shock with a gas, there is emission of light. And every element emits its own color. The atomic oxygen emits of the green between 100 and 200 km in height and some red between 200 and 500 km. The molecular nitrogen emits several red and purple between 60 and 100 km. Both conditions to see dawns: to be surrounded with a magnetic field and to have an atmosphere, thus for all the planets answering these conditions, we can see dawns there.
The spatial telescope Hubble and the Cassini probe followed the south pole of Saturn simultaneously as Cassini approached the gaseous giant in January, 2004, Hubble took images in ultraviolet light, whereas Cassini recorded emissions radio and followed the solar wind.
As on Earth, the dawns of Saturn form total or partial rings around the magnetic pole. However, contrary to the Earth, the dawns of Saturn owed days, against some minutes on Earth. | | The dawns of Saturn, although certainly created by particles in charge entered. 
* The sequence above shows three images of Saturn taken by Hubble in two days of interval some of the others.
Credit: J. Clarke (Boston U.) and Z. Levay ( STScI), ESA, NASA |
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