My model of the Earth

November 17, 2005
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Today I learned about the mysterius word: Terella – A model of the Earth designed to illustrate the magnetic field. From the net I found this about the phenomeno:
Electromagnetic waves led to radio and television, and to a huge electronic industry. But they are also generated in space – by unstable electron beams in the magnetosphere, as well as at the Sun and in the far-away universe, telling us about energetic particles in distant space, or else teasing us with unresolved mysteries.

In Norway, aspecially on a clear winter night, you can easely see this in the Northern Lights, described as: “Of all naturally occuring heavenly phenomena, few come close to a night with a magnificent northern lights display. Flickering curtains of dancing light against the dark skies, northern lights is certainly one of the most spectacular of nature’s phenomena.” See a wonderful picture of this in the links in this article below!

And of course there was a Norwegian who started the surch of this phenomena: “Birkeland published the first realistic theory of the northern lights, the main point being that electrically charged particles ejected from the sun are captured by Earth’s magnetic field and directed towards the polar atmosphere. To prove his theory, Birkeland performed his famous “Terella” experiment, where he artificially created the aurora – and by doing so he amazed the entire scientific community.” Copied from the linked site of this article.

Update – links:
Nother Lights – about Birkeland and his Terella,
Wikipedia about Terrella and
about William Gilbert, Terrella inventor in the 15 sentury.

Welcome to Norway to experience this magic yourself!

Habits, History, Nature