updated 3:17 p.m. ET July 24, 2008
A flotilla of NASA probes has solved the 30-year mystery behind the most colorful aurora displays on Earth and the explosive magnetic "substorms" that spawn them.
NASA's five THEMIS spacecraft in different orbits around Earth spotted the trigger for the substorms, powerful energy bursts in the planet's magnetic field that can interfere with satellites, power grids and supercharge the aurora borealis, also known as the northern lights.
"We discovered what sparks the magnificent light show of the aurora," said THEMIS principal investigator Vassilis Angelopoulos, a space scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.
NASA spacecraft reveal cause of auroras - Space.com - MSNBC.com
I saw it for the first time about 60 years ago and thought it was the most beautiful thing I had even seen and to watch it was such a relaxing experience and every time for years when it would come on and I would be driving and outside of a town I just had to stop and set on the outside of the car or truck no matter how cold it was and watch for hours.
The folks told me about Sun Explosions or Sun Spots that were what caused it, so I have known since I was 15 years old and learned from some old people that most had never even finished grade school, if they ever started what caused the Aurora, and now these big brain assholes with years of schooling and billons of dollars worth of rockets and scientific equipment has came up with the same story as the old sour doughs did in 1950.