Aurora: The Science Behind Nature’s Light Show

About this event

ONLINE: The Houston Astronomical Society (https://www.astronomyhouston.org/) presents a talk by Peggy Mueller about the science behind auroras. Description: "The aurora has fascinated observers for millennia, inspiring myths and prompting questions about its origins. Since the 1960s, observations from spacecraft, satellites, and ground-based observatories have greatly advanced our understanding of the physical processes responsible for auroral displays. A commonly cited definition describes an aurora as a natural light display in Earth’s upper atmosphere caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with atmospheric atoms. This talk examines how our current understanding of the Sun-Earth connection challenges and extends this simplified description, exploring the complex processes that ultimately produce auroral emissions." Speaker bio: Peggy Mueller has been a member of the Houston Astronomical Society since 2021. Her desire to understand the mechanisms that generate the aurora deepened after viewing and photographing the Northern Lights in Lofoten, Norway and in Finnish Lapland. This meeting will be held virtually via Zoom. To attend, you must register for the meeting. You can use the link below. You will receive an email with the details of the meeting and a link that will allow you to join in. Register here. (https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/36XdoxY0SJiKULdgiZFxQA) You only need to register once! Join us on Thursday, November 5th, at 7:00 pm CT. See you then!