Kristian Birkeland used a small magnetic model ball called a “terrella” to represent Earth during his study of these phenomena. For 10 points each:
[10e] Name these colorful phenomena generated by interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field.
ANSWER: auroras [or aurorae; accept aurora borealis or aurora australis; accept northern lights or southern lights; prompt on, but DO NOT REVEAL, geomagnetic storms]
[10m] These events, which can be caused by interplanetary coronal mass ejections, allow auroras to become visible at lower magnetic latitudes. One of these events named for Richard Carrington would cause widespread electrical disruption if repeated today.
ANSWER: geomagnetic storms [prompt on solar storms; prompt on solar particle events or SPEs; reject “substorms”]
[10h] This moon leaves an ultraviolet “footprint” in the aurora of its parent body that is more prominent than that of any other orbiting body. This moon’s “plasma torus” supplies a flow of plasma to its planet, which exhibits permanent auroras around its poles.
ANSWER: Io
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