The Aurora Borealis Lights are a wonderful natural phenomena. Yet it is not within the reach of everyone to see these lights with his own eyes. We have to travel far and go into the icy regions of the Earth, etc. Fortunately, scientists have managed to create a tool to reproduce a miniature aurora without having to us to go to the Earth Poles.
The aurora borealis (that occurs on extreme latitudes in Northern and Southern regions in general) is one of the most fascinating natural phenomena of our planet. These events occur in areas of the magnetic poles and are the result of the fall of electric particles, mainly coming from the sun into our atmosphere. Moreover, if solar activity is high these lights can even be seen at the equator.
The research scientists at French laboratories of CNRS were this effect of Aurora Borealis in a small glass cover. They have called their invention Planeterrella. In general, the standard configuration consists of two spheres of different sizes (one larger than the other) and both equipped with magnets inside.
Atmospheric pressure as that at the altitude of 70-80 km is produced artificially inside the device. A generator inside the device sends electricity towards the spheres using a mini-gun. The magnets inside inside the spheres are then spin, which forces the current to move in circular motion around the two poles of the sphere. More electrons accumulate, the more luminous trail becomes noticeable.
Photography by Pascal Conche .
Photography by William Gronoff .
We would like to see Planeterrella in action for ourselves. What is your opinion about this scientific invention?