io9: aurora

Aurora Australis Warms Up the Antarctic Sky

Lauren Davis — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 14:40:00 PDT

Photos of the Aurora Borealis, the Northern Lights, have become a common enough sight, but a less frequently seen phenomenon is their Southern cousin, the Aurora Australis, which create a spectacular light show over the Antarctic desert.

Like the Aurora Borealis, the Aurora Australis occurs when solar winds carry charged particles from the sun into our atmosphere, where it reacts with the Earth's magnetic field. These particular images come from Antarctica's Amundsen-Scott Station, home of the South Pole Telescope. Keith Vanderlinde of the National Science Foundation took these photos of the Aurora against the unusually clear Antarctic Skies.

[National Science Foundation via Sci-Fi-O-Rama]

Mysterious Infrared Aurora Glows at Saturn's North Pole

Ed Grabianowski — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 08:20:00 PST

This stunning infrared image of Saturn's northern region shows a luminous aurora with the planet's mottled rings below. The aurora appeared in an area that the Hubble Space Telescope can't see, so no one knew it was there until Cassini spotted it recently. What's really weird is that astronomers aren't really sure what's causing it, since this aurora doesn't conform to known models of aurora formation.

Most auroras in the solar system, including Earth's, are caused by the interaction between charged particles in the solar wind and a planet's magnetic field. Saturn has a main aurora that is caused by the solar wind. Jupiter has an aurora caused by the interaction of Jupiter's magnetic field and the magnetic properties of its moons. The infrared aurora on Saturn doesn't fit either of those models. University College London astronomer Nick Achilleos, a member of the Cassini team, said, "Trying to explain its origin will no doubt lead us to physics which uniquely operates in the environment of Saturn."

Scientists will keep an eye on the phenomena in an effort to find more clues about its nature. So far, the aurora has been observed to be highly variable, shifting in size and even periodically disappearing. Image by: NASA/JPL/University of Arizona.

Cassini Finds Mysterious New Aurora On Saturn. [Science Daily]

Air Force Plans Fully Armed, Fully Autonomous Robot Plane

Ed Grabianowski — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 08:00:00 PDT

It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead. And, also, the U.S. Air Force is thinking of building a few of them - unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with vertical take-off and landing (VTOL) capability, armed to the robotic teeth with Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System (APKWS) missiles and equipped with YARA (Yet Another Rad Acronym). But, much like Arnold Schwarzenegger, the Aurora Excalibur has a softer, friendlier side as well.

Aurora's Excalibur VTOL UAV is intended to have fully automated flight systems. It will know its mission and complete without remote operator control. One of those missions could be operating as a tactical strike platform, wielding Hellfire missiles, Viper Strike missiles, and the aforementioned APKWS. Technically, only the flight controls will be automated - an operator will be paying attention to target acquisition (and, one would imagine, target explosition). Still, seeing the words "robot" and "Hellfire" together is a little chilling.

On the bright side, it could also be sent in to recover wounded soldiers, airlifting them out of sticky situations without diverting the attention of a remote pilot. Small special ops teams (like, Delta Force) could even use Excaliburs for fast, light ingress and egress. It's amazing what you can do with hybrid turbine-electric propulsion these days. Small scale tests are planned for late this year. Image by: Aurora.

Firm Building Man-carrying VTOL Drone. [Military.com]