![]() In some areas, large groups flash in unison, creating a stunning effect. A standard lightbulb only converts 10 percent of its energy into visible light.įireflies use their “flashes” to signal each other and to attract potential mates. The process is remarkably efficient about 90 percent of the energy produced in this reaction makes visible light, and almost none of it produces heat. ![]() They have special light-emitting organs on their lower abdomens, which produce light when an chemical called luciferase interacts with oxygen and another chemical called luciferin. Technically, they’re beetles that belong to the family lampyridae. There are 2,000 species of firefly living on Earth. This ability is called bioluminescence, and it’s used for a number of different purposes. Q: How does a firefly produce its own light?Ī: Fireflies-along with certain species of fish, ocean invertebrates, worms, centipedes, millipedes, and fungus-are able to produce light through chemical reactions in their bodies. But since there are fewer people down there, they’re not observed as frequently as the northern lights. Auroras occur near the magnetic south pole, too-they’re called aurora australis. Interestingly, the northern lights line up almost exactly with Earth’s magnetic field lines, and they occur in the north because they’re attracted to Earth’s magnetic north pole. So they release excess energy in the form of photons, which are visible to us as light. To return to their normal state, they need to shed some of that extra energy. This energy causes the atoms to enter an “excited” state. When particles from the Sun crash into atoms and molecules in Earth’s upper atmosphere, the earth’s particles gain extra energy. Most of them are electrons, and most of them come from the Sun, and are “blown” towards earth by the solar wind. The magnetosphere, a zone of Earth’s atmosphere, contains a large number of charged particles. The light produced by the aurora is generated more than 80 kilometers up in the sky. Sometimes, the lights (known officially as the aurora borealis) look like a flashing green curtain in the sky-but they can also appear as long arcs stretching from horizon to horizon, or as constantly-changing colorful patterns. Have you ever heard of the northern lights? In northern areas like Canada, Russia, Finland, Alaska, and Scandinavia, remarkable shimmering lights appear in the night sky. "Get off!", Tim says.Īt the end, Moby flashes a picture of a banana in the night sky. They fell to the ground with a crash, out of shot. Tim and Moby are talking about light.Īt the end, Tim carries Moby as a heavy baby.
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