The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1933-04-13
-Dietz on Science
ROCKET Ships
ROUTE PIERCES
AURORA REGION
Marvel of Color Is Seen As
Explorers Reach
Shakespeare.
BY DAVID DIETZ
Scripps Howard Science Editor

Mystical and beautiful. the weird.
rainbow hued northern lights hiss
and craCkle at the top of the earth's
atmosphere. At a height of fifty
miles above the earth's surface. our
rocket ship enters the home Of the
Aurora BorealiS.
We turn our course northward. for
even though we delay by few
hours our Journey to the sea green
planet. Uranus, we wish to enjoy
The full beauty of the Arctic ire
works
AS We rose through the first six
miles Of air We noted that the tenn
perature fell continuously. These
six miles comprised the lowest layer
Of the atmosphere, the troposphere.
Then We entered the Startosphere
where the temperature is every
where uniform. a temperature OF
100 degrees below zero.
At height Of eighteen miles we
left the stratoSphere and entered the
third layer of the atmosphere. the
meteoric region. so-caned because it .
Is at this height that most meteors
or shooting stars burn themselves
up.
Sharp Lookout Kept
At that time we posted our look
outs at portfolios on all sides of the
ship for from now on We must keep
a sharp watch for meteOrs.
We now are in the aUoral re-
gion, the home Of the Aurora
BOreals This region begins fifty
miles above the earth's surface ana
trails out to meet empty space. Just
Where we may say that the atmos-
phere ends and empty space begins
is debated question.
Auroral displays at heights of 100
and $50 miles above the earth's
surface are common in the polar
regions, showing that there still is
some atmosphere at those heights.
Rays Form Arch
AS our rocket ship speeds north
ward, We begin to see the northern
lights ahead Of us In the United
| States, the aurora is rare. Not
more than three or four displays
are ordinarily seen in d year
Sometimes two OF three years
elapse between good displays. But
as one goes further north, they be-
come more and more frequent. on
the American side, the aurora is
most frequent in latitude north go
degrees.
Suddenly, a great system of rays
breaks out from the mighty arch
Of color They end upward into
the sky like the spOkes of a fan.
There are thousands of these rays
and in them all the cOlors of the
rainbow Some are deep red, some
are bright crimson. Here are vio-
let and lavender. Some are bright
yellow and pale green.
Kissing Is Heard
The rays leap up and die down
again. They seem almost alive
Now suddenly they leap to their full
height, quivering and vibrating.
Next, they begin a wild dance.
marching back and forth and Weav-
ing in and out
Upon the exterior Of our ship are
super-sensitive microphones con-
nected to lOud-speakers in the con-
troll room. We snap on the switch
that controls them and listen. A
kissing, cracking noise greets our
ears. 1t is the song of the aurora.
sometimes heard family by observ-
ers upon the ground in the far
north
The aurora is caused by the sun.
ElectrOns shot out of great erup-
tons upon the sun, eruptions which
precede and accompany sun spots,
come hurting across space and en-
ter the earth's atmosphere.
Sail OFF In Space
Because Of the earth's magnetic
field they are DETECTED 50 that prac-
tically none enter at the earth's
equatorial region while most of them
enter the polar areas.
But we must not spend too much
time in this enchanted region Of
fantastic colors. We point the nose
of our rocket ship upward and sail
into empty space. The aurora flick
ers family far below us, indicating
that we have left the earth and its-
atmosphere below US.
Let us turn the controls over to
the first mate and make our way to
the dining salon for sandwiches and
coffee.
Next-A meal in the rocket ship
adventures in the tOpsy-turvy region
of gravjtafion-fre snace