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The mysterious origin of the northern lights has been proven
北極光的神秘來源已經被證實
The aurora borealis, or northern lights, could easily be described as Earth's greatest light show. A phenomenon that's exclusive to the higher latitudes has had scientists in awe and wonder for centuries.
北極光很容易被描述為地球上最精彩的光線秀。這一只有在北極才可以看到的光學現象讓科學家們在數個世紀以來都驚嘆不已。
The mystery surrounding what causes the northern lights has been speculated but never proven, until now.
神秘的北極光起源一直在被猜測和推斷，但直到現在才被真正證實。
The great aurora mystery finally solved
偉大的極光謎題最終被破解
A group of physicists from the University of Iowa have finally proven that the "most brilliant auroras are produced by powerful electromagnetic waves during geomagnetic storms," according to a newly released study.
來自愛荷華大學的物理學家團隊在一篇最新發布的研究中最終證實，“最耀眼的極光由強大的電磁波在地磁暴中產生”。
The study shows that these phenomena, also known as Alfven waves, accelerate electrons toward Earth, causing the particles to produce the light show we know as the northern lights.
研究表明，這些現象，也被稱為“阿爾芬波”（Alfven waves）會使電子朝地球方向加速，并從而使粒子產生我們所熟悉的極光現象。
"Measurements revealed this small population of electrons undergoes 'resonant acceleration' by the Alfven wave's electric field, similar to a surfer catching a wave and being continually accelerated as the surfer moves along with the wave," said Greg Howes, associate professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa and co-author of the study.
Greg Howes，愛荷華大學物理學和天文學系助教、該研究的共同作者表示：“測量結果顯示，一小群電子在“阿爾芬波”電場的作用下經歷了共振加速，這和沖浪者乘著一股波浪并在隨波浪一同移動時持續加速相類似”。
This idea of electrons "surfing" on the electric field is a theory first introduced in 1946 by a Russian physicist, Lev Landau, that was named Landau damping. His theory has now been proven.
關于電子在電場上“沖浪”的理論最先由俄羅斯物理學家Lev Landau于1946年提出。因此，該理論被命名為朗道阻尼。這一理論現在已被證實。
Recreating the northern lights
重建北極光
Scientists have understood for decades how the aurora most likely is created, but they have now been able to simulate it, for the first time, in a lab at the Large Plasma Device (LPD) in UCLA's Basic Plasma Science Facility.
數十年來，科學家們已經了解了最有可能產生極光的辦法。但是，科學家們現在能夠第一次在加州大學洛杉磯分校基礎等離子科學設施的大型等離子設備的實驗室內模擬極光。
Scientists used a 20-meter-long chamber to recreate Earth's magnetic field using the powerful magnetic field coils on UCLA's LPD. Inside the chamber, scientists generated a plasma similar to what exists in space near the Earth.
科學家們使用了一個20米長的房子并利用加州大學洛杉磯分校大型離子裝置上的強大磁場線圈來重建地球的磁場。在房間內，科學家們創造出了類似于在地球附近的太空中所存在的等離子體。
"Using a specially designed antenna, we launched Alfven waves down the machine, much like shaking a garden hose up and down quickly, and watching the wave travel along the hose," said Howes. As they began to experience the electrons "surfing" along the wave, they used another specialized instrument to measure how those electrons were gaining energy from the wave.“
通過一款專門設計的天線，我們向機器下方發射阿爾文波，就像快速上下晃動花園水龍頭那樣，并觀察阿爾文波沿著管路前行。當觀察到電子沿著波“沖浪”時，他們使用了另一款專門的儀器來測量電子是如何從阿爾文波中獲取能量的。”
The northern lights appear over a waterfall in Iceland.
極光在冰島的一座瀑布上方出現
Although the experiment didn't recreate the colorful shimmer we see in the sky, "our measurements in the laboratory clearly agreed with predictions from computer simulations and mathematical calculations, proving that electrons surfing on Alfven waves can accelerate the electrons (up to speeds of 45 million mph) that cause the aurora," said Howes.
盡管實驗并沒有重現我們在天空中所看到的彩色微光，但是“我們在實驗室里的測量結果明顯與計算機模擬和數學計算的預測結果相吻合，這證明了在阿爾文波上沖浪的電子能夠加速（最高速度可達4500萬mph）并引起極光”，Howes表示。
"These experiments let us make the key measurements that show that the space measurements and theory do, indeed, explain a major way in which the aurora are created," said Craig Kletzing, the study co-author.
“這些實驗能夠讓我們做一些關鍵的測定，而這些測定表明，太空測定和理論確實闡釋了極光所產生的主要方式，”Craig Kletzing，研究的共同作者表示。
Space scientists around the country were ecstatic to hear the news. "I was tremendously excited! It is a very rare thing to see a laboratory experiment that validates a theory or model concerning the space environment," said Patrick Koehn, a scientist in the Heliophysics Division of NASA. "Space is simply too big to easily simulate in the lab."
國內的太空科學家們聽到這一消息后都欣喜若狂。“我太激動了！在實驗室內進行實驗來證實太空環境方面的理論或模型是非常少見的”，Patrick Koehn，NASA太陽物理學部的科學家表示。“太空簡直太大了，在實驗室內模仿非常不容易。”
Koehn said he believes being able to understand the acceleration mechanism for the aurora-causing electrons will be helpful in many studies in the future.
Koehn表示，他認為能夠了解引起極光的電子的加速原理將有助于未來的許多研究。
"It does help us understand space weather better! The electron acceleration mechanism verified by this project is at work elsewhere in the solar system, so it will find many applications in space physics. It will be of use in space weather forecasting as well, something that NASA is very interested in," Koehn said.
“這一研究確實可以幫助我們更好地了解太空天氣！由這一項目所證實的電子加速原理在太陽系的任何地方都起作用并且在太空物理學方面還可以有多項應用。其還有助于太空天氣預測，這是NASA非常感興趣的。”
A long way to go
前路漫漫
Now that the theory of how the illuminating aurora is created has been proven, there's still a long way to go in forecasting how strong each storm will be.
現在，有關發光的極光是如何形成的理論已經得到證實，但是對于預測每次風暴的強度則有很長的路要走。
"Predicting how strong a particular geomagnetic storm will be, based on observations of the Sun and measurements from spacecraft between the Earth and the Sun, remains an unsolved challenge," said Howes in an email.
Howes在郵件中寫道：“根據對太陽的觀察以及從宇宙飛船上在太陽和地球之間進行測量來預測具體的地磁暴有多強仍然是一個沒有答案的挑戰。”
"We have established the link of electrons surfing on Alfven waves about 10,000 miles above the Earth's surface, and now we must learn how to predict the strength of those Alfven waves using spacecraft observations," he added.
我們已經在距離地球表面大約1萬英里的地方建立了在阿爾文波上沖浪的電子鏈接。現在，我們必須學會利用宇宙飛船的觀察結果來預測這些阿爾文波的強度。
來源：CNN 翻譯&編輯：譯銳Susan