Polar light, also known as an aurora, is a natural light in the sky caused by the interaction of earth’s magnetic field with particles from the sun. It is normally seen in polar regions and at night. When coming from the north polar lights are known as Aurora Borealis, Borealis for north wind, or the Northern Lights.

While being seen best closer to the poles, polar lights can be seen all over the world from time to time and even on other planets, and are also many different colors. They show up as glows or curtains of color.Green, blue, and red are common colors for auroras. Charged particles from the sun come to the magnetic poles of the earth and they collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen. Oxygen tends to give a green or brownish-red color while nitrogen gives a red or blue color. Altitude has a huge influence in the color of polar lights. At high altitudes the oxygen causes a red light. Lower down the oxygen will give a green light and the nitrogen will give a blue and red light. Then finally there is lower down when only the blue and red from the nitrogen is seen. The most common color for an aurora is green, followed by pink which is a mixture of the green and red colors. The rarest color of aurora is the red light which is caused by a collision only 200 miles (320 km) above the earth! (more…)

International Polar Year, also known as IPY, is a global and collaborative campaign with the focus of researching Polar Regions. The research efforts are intense and seek to discover and gain knowledge about the earth’s Polar Regions, how and why they change, and how the Polar Regions and its changes affect the overall health of the biosphere. The program is planned now by both the international Council for Science (ICSU) and the World Meteorological Organization (WMO). Since the First Polar Year, there have been three other Polar Years in 1932-1933 (Second International Polar Year), 1957-1958 (International Geophysical Year), and the most recent in 2007-2009 (Third International Polar Year). 

The campaign was originally inspired by Karl Weyprecht, an Austro-Hungarian naval officer. He was a scientist as well as the co-commander of the Austro-Hungarian Polar Expedition (1872-74Z); however, Weyprecht passed away before seeing the IPY come to life in 1882-1883. The First International Polar Year was proposed by Georg Neumayer, who was inspired by Weyprecht. (more…)

The Northern Lights is an impressive natural phenomenon. But it does not stand alone. There is a connection with Nov. 9, the day of the descent of the foremothers of the earth as described in Goethe’s Faust, at Pentecost, the Feast of the inner fire, the Kalevala, the Finnish epic, and Rembrandt’s painting The Polish Rider. Theodor Däubler Also, a little-known poet, let himself be inspired by the aurora. However diverse these connections may be, two things in common: their focus on the light and the future.

Years ago I first made a trek in Lapland alone. It was September and I walked from hut to hut in the northwest of Finland, near the border with Sweden. Day and night were long and I had to make sure the darkness have reached the next hut. That worked. Since the wood stove quickly spread a warmth and also served as a stove for a simple meal. (more…)

Aurora occurs when charged particles from the Sun disrupt the Earth’s magnetic field, and thus can penetrate the atmosphere. Usually, the charged particles deflected by the magnetic field into space, and that protects us.

When charged particles enter the atmosphere at high altitude (around 250km), they can with their high energy excitation of atoms and molecules: these electrons are placed in other jobs or even thrown out of the atom (ionization). In recombination and de-excitation is a surplus of energy in the form of light emitted. This light is what we see as auroras. The color of the light varies depending on the type of atom or molecule and the energy of the electron orbits.

The charged particles are in space around the Sun, but have a high concentration and speed when the sun has an eruption (called a Coronal Mass Ejection, or CME). These eruptions caused by “magnetic circuit” in sunspots. The magnetic field lines in sunspots are sometimes very complex, and become unstable. When the field is suddenly short-circuited, are massive amounts of energy which is then an explosion on the surface of the sun damage. The particles (mostly protons) that are ejected into space this may arrive at the earth as the explosion on the side of the sun we see. (more…)

The polar bear is the biggest bear of all. This bear is found only in the Arctic. He eats almost only meat because there is little or no plants in the Arctic area. The polar bear probably dates from the brown bear.

General
The white polar bear dates back from 57 million years ago. The kind that we know is not very old, about 200,000 years. Previously, these bears were much smaller. Now there are peaks of over 900 kg. But the average polar bear weighs between 700 to 800 kg. The average polar bear measures about 2.8 meters.
Polar bears have an excellent vision. They are especially good at night hunting for food. A polar bear is also extra padding on the eyes. To protect the eyes against the artistic ment and the freezing wind, so the eyes do not freeze. The temperatures in the Arctic could easily go below -30. The smell of a polar bear is incorrigible, they can smell food up to 32 km far.
Other characteristics is that the polar bear’s hearing is well developed, at least better than in humans. (more…)