NASA set the Arctic Circle ablaze last week with colorful blue vapor clouds that were seen above parts of Finland and Norway. And yes, they did cause some people to ask: Aliens?
The apparition was caused by a NASA rocket launch that discharged “gas tracers” into the sky to probe the mechanisms behind auroras. The Saturday mission, named “AZURE” for the Auroral Zone Upwelling Rocket Experiment, launched from Norway’s Andøya Space Center just after midnight local time, and after several attempts in 2018 were scuttled due to bad weather.
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, TinyGO, or even use the Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for CircuitPython, MakeCode, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell is every Wednesday at 7pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
Python for Microcontrollers — Python on Microcontrollers Newsletter: New CircuitPython and MicroPython Minor Updates and More! #Python #CircuitPython @micropython @ThePSF
I think auroras are caused by the breakdown of the magnetic field into an electric field, because I once looked at a doughnut magnet through a NaCl crystal and there was a clear yellow distortion near the poles. There was no distortion anywhere else. You could try it yourself.
I think auroras are caused by the breakdown of the magnetic field into an electric field, because I once looked at a doughnut magnet through a NaCl crystal and there was a clear yellow distortion near the poles. There was no distortion anywhere else. You could try it yourself.