What is an aurora? - Michael Molina

Prevodilac: Tijana Mihajlović Lektor: Mile Živković

Every second,

Svake sekunde,

one million tons of matter is blasted from the Sun

milion tona materije izbacuje se sa Sunca

at the velocity of one million miles per hour,

brzinom većom od 1,5 miliona kilometara na čas,

and it's on a collision course with Earth!

a na putu će se sudariti

sa Zemljom!

Ne brinite,

But don't worry,

this isn't the opening of a new Michael Bay movie.

ovo nije uvodna špica novog filma Majkla Beja.

This is The Journey of the Polar Lights.

Ovo je putovanje polarne svetlosti.

The northern and southern lights, also known as the aurora Borealis

Severna i južna svetlost,

poznate i kao aurora borealis,

and aurora Australis, respectively,

odnosno aurora australis,

occur when high energy particles from the Sun

javljaju se kada se visokoenergetske čestice sa Sunca

collide with neutral atoms in our atmosphere.

sudare sa neutralnim atomima u našoj atmosferi.

The energy emitted from this crash produces a spectacle of light

Energija emitovana pri sudaru

proizvodi svetlosni spektakl

that mankind has marveled at for centuries.

kom se čovečanstvo divi vekovima.

Međutim, putovanje čestica nije baš tako jednostavno,

But the particles' journey isn't just as simple

prosto odlaženje sa Sunca i pristizanje na Zemlju.

as leaving the Sun and arriving at Earth.

Like any cross-country road trip, there's a big detour

Kao i kod svakog putovanja,

postoji ogromno skretanje sa puta,

and nobody asks for directions.

a niko ne pita za pravac.

Let's track this intergalactic voyage

Propratimo ovo među-galaktičko putovanje

by focusing on three main points of their journey:

kroz fokusiranje na 3 glavne tačke njihovog putovanja:

leaving the Sun, making a pit stop in the Earth's magnetic fields,

odlazak sa Sunca,

pit-stop kod Zemljinih magnetskih polja

and arriving at the atmosphere above our heads.

i dolazak u atmosferu iznad naših glava.

The protons and electrons creating the northern lights

Protoni i elektroni koji stvaraju severnu svetlost

polaze na put iz Sunčeve korone.

depart from the Sun's corona.

The corona is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere

Korona je spoljašnji sloj

Sunčeve atmosfere

and is one of the hottest regions.

i jedno od najtoplijih područja.

Njena intenzivna vrelina čini

Its intense heat causes the Sun's hydrogen and helium atoms to vibrate

da Sunčevi atomi vodonika i helijuma vibriraju

i istresaju protone i elektrone,

and shake off protons and electrons

as if they were stripping off layers on a hot, sunny day.

kao da se ljušte u toku vrelog, sunčanog dana.

Impatient and finally behind the wheel,

Nestrpljivi i konačno glavni u vožnji,

these free protons and electrons move too fast

ovi slobodni protoni i elektroni kreću se prebrzo

to be contained by the Sun's gravity

da bi ostali u Sunčevoj gravitaciji

and group together as plasma, an electrically charged gas.

i grupišu se kao plazma,

naelektrisani gas.

They travel away from the Sun as a constant gale of plasma,

Oni putuju sa Sunca

kao konstantni vetar plazme,

poznat pod nazivom solarni vetar.

known as the solar wind.

Međutim, Zemlja sprečava solarni vetar

However, the Earth prevents the solar wind from traveling straight into the planet

da doputuje pravo na planetu

kroz uspostavljanje zaobilaznog puta -

by setting up a detour, the magnetosphere.

magnetosfere.

The magnetosphere is formed by the Earth's magnetic currents

Magnetosferu formiraju

Zemljine magnetne struje

i ona štiti našu planetu od solarnih vetrova

and shields our planet from the solar winds

kroz slanje čestica oko Zemlje.

by sending out the particles around the Earth.

Njihova prilika da nastave put

Their opportunity to continue the journey down to the atmosphere

naniže do atmosfere

javlja se kada je magnetosfera prebukirana

comes when the magnetosphere is overwhelmed by a new wave of travelers.

novim naletom putnika.

Ovaj događaj se zove koronalni izbačaj mase

This event is coronal mass ejection,

and it occurs when the Sun shoots out

i javlja se kada Sunce izbaci

masivnu loptu plazme u solarni vetar.

a massive ball of plasma into the solar wind.

Kada se jedan od ovih koronalnih izbačaja mase

When one of these coronal mass ejections collides with Earth,

sudari sa Zemljom,

it overpowers the magnetosphere and creates a magnetic storm.

nadvlada magnetosferu

i stvara magnetsku oluju.

The heavy storm stresses the magnetosphere until it suddenly snaps back,

Jaka oluja vrši pritisak na magnetosferu

dok se iznenada ne vrati unazad,

like and overstretched elastic band,

kao prekomerno rastegnuti lastiš,

flinging some of the detoured particles towards Earth.

bacajući neke od zalutalih čestica natrag prema Zemlji.

The retracting band of the magnetic field drags them down to the aurora ovals,

Traka magnetnog polja koja se povlači

vuče ih naniže prema polarnim zonama,

which are the locations of the northern and southern lights.

to jest lokacijama

severne i južne polarne svetlosti.

After traveling 93 million miles across the galaxy,

Posle puta od 150 miliona kilometara kroz galaksiju,

the Sun's particles finally produce their dazzling light show

Sunčeve čestice konačno proizvode

zaslepljujući svetlosni šou uz pomoć nekih prijatelja.

with the help of some friends.

Počevši od 32 do 320 kilometara iznad površine,

20 to 200 miles above the surface,

the electrons and protons meet up with oxygen and nitrogen atoms,

elektroni i protoni se susreću

sa atomima kiseonika i azota,

a sigurno je da su srećni što se vide.

and they sure are happy to see each other.

Sunčeve čestice se pozdravljaju sa atomima,

The Sun's particles high five the atoms, giving their energy

dajući svoju energiju

to the Earth's neutral oxygen and nitrogen atoms.

Zemljinim neutralnim atomima kiseonika i azota.

When the atoms in the atmosphere are contacted by the particles,

Kada atomi u atmosferi

dođu u dodir sa česticama,

uzbude se i emituju fotone.

they get excited and emit photons.

Photons are small bursts of energy in the form of light.

Fotoni su malene pojave energije

u obliku svetla.

The colors that appear in the sky

Boje koje se javljaju na nebu

zavise od talasne dužine atomovih fotona.

depend on the wavelength of the atom's photon.

Excited oxygen atoms are responsible for the green and red colors,

Uzbuđeni atoni kiseonika odgovorni su

za zelenu i crvenu boju,

whereas excited nitrogen atoms produce blue and deep red hues.

dok uzbuđeni atomi azota proizvode

plave i tamno crvene nijanse.

Okupljanje ovih interakcija

The collection of these interactions

stvara severnu i južnu polarnu svetlost.

is what creates the northern and southern lights.

Polarna svetlost je najuočljivija tokom jasnih večeri

The polar lights are best seen on clear nights

in regions close to magnetic north and south poles.

u zonama koja se nalaze blizu magnetskog severnog i južnog pola.

Nighttime is ideal

Noćni sati su idealni

because the Aurora is much dimmer than sunlight

jer je polarna svetlost znatno bleđa nego Sunčeva

and cannot be seen in daytime.

i ne može se videti u toku dana.

Remember to look up at the sky and read up on the Sun's energy patterns,

Setite se da pogledate u nebo

i ispitate obrasce Sunčeve energije,

posebno Sunčeve pege i baklje,

specifically sunspots and solar flares,

as these will be good guides for predicting the auroras.

pošto će oni biti dobri vodiči

za predviđanje polarne svetlosti.