Feb 17, 2007. The Canadian Space Agency and NASA have launched a record-breaking five satellites aboard a single rocket, hoping to unravel the mystery surrounding the northern lights.
The Delta 2 rocket lifted off Saturday at 6:01 p.m. local time from the Cape Canaveral Air Force Stations in Florida.
The program, dubbed THEMIS, aims to gain a better understanding of the immense energy releases -- called substorms -- that cause the aurora borealis.
"People have been studying the northern lights for hundreds of years, and doing spacecraft experiments for more than 50. So we know why the different colours occur and why they tend to occur in the northern hemisphere, particularly over Canada," Brian Jackel, a Canadian researcher for THEMIS, told CTV Newsnet.
The satellites are equipped with sensors to measure magnetic and electric fields, along with particles and radiation, while 20 cameras place throughout North America will watch the northern lights from the ground.
The five satellites will align themselves once every four days above northern Canada to send back data from the measurements.
Jackel said the northern lights can be equated to the energy that builds up from shifting tectonic plates.
"The Earth is embedded in a ball of plasma, which the solar winds sort of bounce off and move through," he said. "Energy gets built up and stored, and then it can be released like an earthquake."
Nature's own fireworks [Source:
http://www.northern-lights.no/]
Should you be outdoors one evening during winter, take a minute and glance up at the skies. If you're lucky you might catch a glimpse of some flickering curtains of lights, apparently dancing across the dark sky. You are watching the northern lights, a celestial phenomenon that has amazed people for centuries.
What are northern lights?
Northern lights is the name of a light phenomena often seen in the northern regions.
What causes them?
Explains the physics behind a northern lights display.
The Sun
A northern lights display starts at the sun.
The aurora oval
Where does the northern lights occur?
Frequency of occurance
How often can we see the lights?
Altitudes
How high up in the atmosphere does the lights occur?
Colours
The colours of the lights.
Auroral intensity
How strong does a northern lights display shine?
Forms and structure
Northern lights can have different shapes and forms.
Auroral sounds
Can the northern lights create sound?
Polar-cap auroras
A very special type of aurora.
How to observe
Tips on where and when to travel.
Aurora on other planets
Earth is not the only planet with northern lights.
Northern light - Winner of the year
http://www.northern-lights.no/english/contest/winner.shtml
Nothern light - This months contest
http://www.northern-lights.no/active/Contest/v2/this_month 
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