Dundee University scientists unlock secret behind Northern Lights

Scientists at Dundee University have led an international team to discover a major secret behind the Northern Lights.

The team, which also included academics from St Andrews University, uncovered the mystery behind black auroras the dark patches that often subdivide the glowing curtains of red or green in the Northern and Southern lights.

The researchers, led by Dr Alexander Russell from the mathematics department at Dundee, have shown for the first time that the Earth’s upper atmosphere and space environment act as a single system to control auroras, with each part influencing the other in an interaction said to be similar to the way feedback is produced between a speaker and a microphone.

“Auroras occur when electrical effects in space drive particles into Earth’s upper atmosphere,” Dr Russell said.

“We have shown that instead of simply being a ‘target’ for the particles, the upper atmosphere actively influences the structure of auroras, especially dark gaps separating the glowing curtains of light.”