Perhaps what one thinks of when they hear the word Aurora is the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty from the animated film by Disney. But rest assured, this is not about princesses or fairy tales…at least not that kind of fairytale.
The Light Show on Earth
For the more scientifically-inclined individual, you probably think of the aurora that occurs on Earth; the Northern Lights. Indeed, the Northern Lights are a fantastic light show for everyone to enjoy, given the chance to travel up near the Arctic Circle.
Some Insight to the Auroras
If you are wondering how such spectacles occur, you only have to understand that the aurora light show is made up of energy and particles that are triggered during solar storms. The oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere then release the light we see in the Northern and Southern Lights.
However, ever curious about the nature of things, scientists began to wonder if seeing such light show phenomena could occur outside our solar system under observation. This is why recent news has been in a furor about the light show that is proving to be so much brighter than the one here on Earth, the size of Jupiter basically.
Our Understanding of the Universe has expanded a little more
A study that was published today in the Nature journal but received back in August 2014, nearly a year ago, talks about the findings. The object of interest, LSR J18535+3529, was suggested to be a brown dwarf based on the impressions of it being too heavy for a planet but too light for a star. The black sheep of the universe so to speak, as it’s not quite one or the other but is rather unique. However, that doesn’t stop brown dwarfs being awesome as one of the authors of the study, Gregg Hallinan of CalTech says when scientists discovered that the nonconformist brown dwarf emitted radio waves usually seen in stars.
Given what we already know about auroras on our planet, the team of scientists hazarded a guess and thought that perhaps brown dwarfs could also have their own light show. So given the difference of atmospheres between Earth and the dwarfs, the color of the light show changed, was redder, and had some ultraviolet and infrared lights as well.
Thus far, the furthest known auroras had come from Jupiter and were the brightest.
With this new research, the auroras from the brown dwarf are significantly massive and brighter given its middle occupancy between planet and star. More research will uncover more information about the light show phenomenon.
Make your own light with Sun Lifelight:
Auroras: The Light Show beyond Our Line of Sight
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