A little trip up there : have a look on our near space

A little trip up there : have a look on our near space

Our Earth still so pretty …

But for how long …

The sun eruption …

A Solar flare is the sudden release of energy out from the Sun , lasting a few minutes up to several hours

This photo taken by the SOHO observatory is stationed in one of the Lagrange points , at more than 1 million km from the Earth , to monitor the Sun

The diameter of the Sun being of 1.4 million km , in this view the distance between the Earth and the Moon is about the distance between the 2 white spots on the surface of the Sun

The Earth is smaller than the cursor you walk over the image

This gives you a good measure of the mass of matter ejected from the Sun …

This photo shows the giant coronal mass ejection blasted off by the Sun in October 2003

The approximate size of the Earth compared to the Sun is shown down on the photo The photo was taken by the international SOHO spacecraft

Source : SOHO-NASA/ESA

Photo NASA : Public Domain

An aurora borealis …

Photo of an aurora borealis , taken in Finland

An aurora borealis is the interaction of the terrestrial magnetic currents and the solar wind which manifests itself in 2 distinct ways :

– the particle of the solar wind has moderate energy and it will not reach the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere

It will undergo a rebound effect and will find itself trapped in this ” magnetic bottle ” by making round trips between the two boreal regions ( North pole and South pole )

– the particle of the solar wind will be fast enough , it will then cross this barrier and will electrically excite the upper layers of the Earth’s atmosphere

We will then obtain what is called an aurora borealis , which is only visible in polar latitudes

COMPOSITE IMAGE — This Defense Meteorological Satellite Program satellite network image uses a combination of infrared data with a specialized visual sensor that can see lights at night. The yellow streak shows a vigorous aurora over Norway and Sweden on Oct. 30. (Courtesy image)

Composite image of an aurora seen by the DMSP satellite on the 30^th October 2003

Source http : http://www.af.mil/photos/media_search.asp?q=aurora&btnG.x=0&btnG.y=0

Author Senior Airman Joshua

Photo Wikipedia Public Domain : Ddwit

And about electricity …

The circulation of the water between the oceans , the atmosphere and the continents is called the water cycle

The water cycle begins with the evaporation of the water mainly from the oceans but also from the continents by the forming clouds

It falls down in the form of rain or snow , and sometimes of ice : the hail

The water evaporates directly from the oceans , lakes , rivers and wet soils but also from the transpiration of the plants which returns to the atmosphere rainwater that has infiltrated the soil

The heavy precipitation during the winter periods generates a deep infiltration which feeds the groundwater

Clouds are made up of tiny water droplets or ice crystals of 1 up to 100 microns in diameter

These droplets are due to the condensation of invisible water vapor in the atmosphere around tiny impurities called condensation nuclei : sea salt crystals , pollens , dust , and so on …

There are three families of clouds :

They are the cirrus “ hair curls ” , the cumulus ” clusters ” and the stratus ” layers ”

The cirrus , cirrocumulus and cirrostratus are clouds from the upper level , which are floating between 6 and 13 km of altitude

They are made up of ice crystals

The altocumulus and altostratus travel between 2 to 7 km of altitude

They are made up of water droplets

These high-altitude clouds are generally referred as fair weather clouds

The nimbostratus , cumulus and cumulonimbus clouds are vertically developing clouds that can occupy several floors at the same time

The cumulus clouds are rain clouds

They work like a sponge

If you see them white and tall , it’s because the rain is for your neighbour …

The compression of the cloud , as if you were squeezing the sponge with your hand , can be done horizontally or vertically

Horizontally , the cumulus clouds go down due to the mass of water and then they turn to black , as the tightened molecules preventing the light from passing , and therefore they will travel , pushed by the winds at a lower altitude

They will then bump against a mountain massif , their mass preventing them from rising above the massif , and there are compressed so they will release their surplus weight of water on the plain

This is the typical case of Limoges and the westerly winds …

The stratus clouds are clouds close to the Earth’s surface like as fog , mist , and so on …

The cumulonimbus clouds are storm clouds

They are formed from cumulus clouds and we see them expanding into cauliflower

The cumulonimbus can reach 10 kilometers in diameter and rise up to 8 to 20 km in altitude

The upper part of the cumulonimbus clouds is made of ice crystals

Inside this tower , the droplets circulate at a vertical speeds of the order of 5 to 30 m / second , i.e. up to a speed of 200 km / hour , which with the temperature differences depending on the altitudes crossed , makes them pass from steam to water then to ice and at this moment their weight makes them fall down in the opposite direction until they become steam again , and so on …

It is therefore a real dynamo , and the lightning is the manifestation of the overflow of this dynamo …

A lightning bolt has an intensity of 30,000 amperes for a voltage of 100 million volts

The lightnings travels over several kilometers in length and their speed can reach 40,000 km / second and on their passage the air is heated up to 30,000 ° C

If we knew how to use the electrical energy of the cumulonimbus clouds , we would no longer have energy problem …

The power and the energy of the electric discharges of a single storm corresponds to the consumption of the whole of France for 5 minutes !