发射探测器以研究脉动极光

The LAMP mission, short for Loss through Auroral Microburst Pulsations, launched on Saturday, Marc 5, 2022, aboard a Black Brant IX suborbital sounding rocket. The mission will study an often overlooked kind of aurora, called a pulsating aurora, and test a theory on what causes them.

Like all aurora, a pulsating aurora is set alight by electrons (and occasionally protons) from near-Earth space. These electrons plunge into our atmosphere and collide with atoms and molecules, causing them to glow in their distinctive colors – red and green by oxygen, blue by nitrogen – as they release their excess energy.

Image Credit: NASA

LAMP任务是极光微爆发脉动损失的简称，于2022年3月5日星期六搭载Black Brant IX亚轨道探空火箭发射升空。这项任务将研究一种经常被忽视的极光，称为脉动极光，并测试其成因的理论。

像所有的极光一样，脉动极光是由近地空间的电子（偶尔也有质子）点燃。这些电子进入我们的大气层，与原子和分子碰撞，使它们在释放多余能量时发出独特的颜色——氧气发出红色和绿色，氮气发出蓝色。

图片来源：NASA