Finnish scientists have proven that the northern lights have a soundtrack. According to the theory of researchers from Aalto University, the source of sounds arises in the inversion layer at an altitude of about 70-80 m above the ground, that is, much lower than the glow itself, which occurs at an altitude of 80-300 km, the Finnish news service Yle reports.
Scientists have studied this phenomenon for 17 years. Previously, it was believed that the sounds of the northern lights did not exist, although many of these heard them. Also in the mythology of many northern peoples there is a belief that during the northern lights one can hear pops and noise.
In the 1960s, the phenomenon was studied by American scientists in Alaska, but they did not find any evidence of its existence. After that, experts from the American space agency NASA announced that the sounds of the northern lights from a scientific point of view are nonsense.
Finnish scientists were less quick at drawing conclusions. And after many years of experiments, they came to the theory that the source of sounds arises in the inversion layer at an altitude of about 70-80 m above the ground, that is, much lower than the glow itself.
Experts from the country of Suomi presented the results of their work at an international conference on acoustics in Stockholm in the summer of 2016. They were also told about at a recent workshop on the northern lights in Kuhmo (Finland). Despite the existence of certain prejudices, the scientific world has positively received the results of a large-scale study of Finnish scientists.