PAPER Topics

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Near the Earth's poles a magnificent spectacle of shimmering colored light can sometimes be seen --- the aurora. The aurora is called the (Northern lights) and the aurora austrails (Southern lights); it can appear as bright as a full moon. T ....

Middle of Term Paper
... an area called the Van Allen belts. Eventually the plasma is drawn down toward the North and South magnetic poles. Along the way, it ionizes (creates an electric charge within) the oxygen and nitrogen gas it encounters in the atmosphere, causing it to glow. The flow of plasma from the sun is generally continuos, although it occasionally bursts out of holes in the sun's outermost atmosphere. Massive ejections of plasma have also been shown to accompany solar flares, prominences, and sunspots. It is during these periods of highest solar activity that one is most likely to witness aurorae. The aurora is an ideal subject for the amateur as ...