Post B0ArdKfenb9Z2Xm7UG by wikkit@mastodon.social
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 (DIR) Post #B0ArdKfenb9Z2Xm7UG by wikkit@mastodon.social
       2025-11-12T15:50:58Z
       
       0 likes, 0 repeats
       
       Here's a dumb question: are aurora lasers? You're pumping energy into a medium and it's outputting one particular wavelength of green light from a specifc electron transition in atomic oxygen. Which is basically a description of a laser without the mirrors on the end. But the column is kilometers tall, does it lead to any coherence?I've seen people claim it's in sheets because of "magnetic field lines", but those don't actually exist. It's like saying they align to latitude lines.
       
 (DIR) Post #B0ArdLR9wz9PPs03Wq by publius@mastodon.sdf.org
       2025-11-12T16:00:58Z
       
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       @wikkit I would say no, because a laser is coherent. So far as I know, auroral emission isn't coherent, so it's merely a low-pressure gas-discharge on a grand scale.