Northern Lights Question?

Question

So I know planes fly through it, but does anyone feel queasy after? I mean, let's say a person was flying in a plane above the aurora and parachuted out and through it, would anything happen to them??? Just curious is all.

Answer 1

Commercial aircraft don't fly above 12 km of altitude near the tropopause. Aurora Borealis (northern lights) happen at about 80 km of altitude, in the magnetosphere.

True, crossing the magnetosphere was a concern prior to the first human space flight. But it looks like, so far, it is not harmful. As for the Aurora itself, it is only a polarisation of atoms; not a physical substance one goes through.

Answer 2

No. The northern lights happen far above where planes can fly, even past the kalman line, which is the highest altitude you can fly with a plane by producing lift and without entering a circular orbit. In fact, if you would be flying through an aurora, you would not see anything at all. You can only see it from enough distance, as it is not more than a few thousand remaining air molecules in the upper atmosphere. Like a mosquito net, it gets really visible from the distance and is almost invisible when close.

Nothing will happen to the person. geomagnetic storms get their destructive power when huge man-made structures, like pipelines or power lines, act as antenna. Even the parachute lines will not be long enough to cause measurable electricity.  

Answer 3

No.  The Northern Lights are just...well, light.  Do you feel queasy when you stand near a light bulb?  I am guessing not.  There is no reason to think that the northern lights would make you feel any different than any other light source would.

Answer 4

I don't think any planes fly thru it. They may be able to fly under it, but no planes fly that high.

The northern lights effect take place in the upper most limits of our atmosphere where planes can't fly.  

Answer 5

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Exc...

"The third and final test, Excelsior III, was made on August 16, 1960. During the ascent, the pressure seal in Kittinger's right glove failed, and he began to experience severe pain in his right hand. (See Effects of vacuum on humans.) He decided not to inform the ground crew about this, in case they should decide to abort the test. Despite temporarily losing the use of his right hand, he continued with the ascent, climbing to an altitude of 31,333 m (102,800 ft). The ascent took one hour and 31 minutes and broke the previous manned balloon altitude record of 30,942 m (101,516 ft), which was set by Major David Simons as part of Project Manhigh in 1957. Kittinger stayed at peak altitude for 12 minutes, waiting for the balloon to drift over the landing target area. He then stepped out of the gondola to begin his descent.

The small stabilizer chute deployed successfully and Kittinger fell for 4 minutes and 36 seconds, setting a still-standing world record for the longest parachute free-fall (although some authorities do not count this as a free-fall record because of the use of the stabilizer chute). At an altitude of 5,334 m (17500 ft), Kittinger opened his main chute and landed safely in the New Mexico desert. The whole descent took 13 minutes and 45 seconds and set the current world record for the highest parachute jump. During the descent, Kittinger experienced temperatures as low as −94 °F (−70 °C). In the free-fall stage, he reached a top speed of 988 km/h (614 mph)."

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And that was just from the stratosphere. Aurora occur in the ionosphere which begins at twice the height the stratosphere ends. No one has ever fallen from such a height but you'd get going pretty fast before feeling much atmospheric drag (id est, FRICKING RE-ENTRY) I suspect you'd need a space suit with ablative heat shielding. And a camera.

As for the radiation, its nothing you're not exposed to normally. The light show is simply excited gasses. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(ast...

Answer 6

a plane would have to fly pretty d**n high to fly through the northern lights (higher then planes do anyways, save for the concord or sr-71 or the like that are designed to fly at EXTREMELY high altitudes, altitudes bordering on 'space travel')

the northern lights are created when solar (and cosmic) radiation collide with the upper atmosphere....

so is your hypothesis possible? defiantely.... but again, any planes flying THROUGH it would have to be flying at EXTREME altitudes.  

Answer 7

A plane's cruising altitude is nowhere near the auroras!

Answer 8

the space shuttle regularly flies through the aurora, but no planes that i know of do. i do not recall any astronauts having any noticeable after effects of passing through the aurora.

i'd imagine that passing throguh them would involve less radiation than passing throguh the van allen belts and the appollo astronauts passed through them with no problem. maybe if you stayed in them for a long time there might be some effects but not just a short trip throguh.