POWERFUL radio waves beamed up into the sky have created artificially enhanced auroras visible to the naked eye.
Natural auroras, or the northern and southern lights, occur at high latitudes where Earth’s magnetic field funnels the charged particles that stream out of the sun into the ionosphere. About 100 kilometres above Earth’s surface, these particles collide with atoms and molecules in the atmosphere, boosting the energy of their electrons. The electrons return to their initial states by emitting light. Oxygen molecules, for example, glow red, while oxygen atoms produce green, and nitrogen produces blue.
Scientists knew they could get the…
