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How Much Power is Generated by the Aurora Borealis?

-- Dave | September 10, 2023

Artist conception of an aurora over the polar region of a brown dwarf.

Question:

First of all, thanks for your time. I’m writing a sci-fi novel with my brother in which an alien species has to create a weapon to defend themselves. How much power would they be able to have if they were somehow able to harness the power of their Aurora Borealis and focus it into a beam of some sort? It is a sci-fi story so we are going to stretch reality a bit. Thanks again!

Dave

-- Dave

Answer:

The solar-induced magnetic storms that produce the Northern (Southern) Lights, or Aurora Borealis (Australis), are generated when electrons from the Earth’s magnetosphere flow down Earth’s magnetic field and collide with atoms and molecules in the Earth’s upper atmosphere, leading to the release of energy that we see as multi-colored lights in the sky. For the most intense of these solar storms, the energy generated through the currents induced in the Earth’s atmosphere is estimated to be as large as 100 billion watts. Even though this is a lot of power, I believe that as it is scattered over a very large region in the Earth’s upper atmosphere that it might be difficult to harness this power. By today’s technology, certainly something more aligned with science fiction.

-- Jeff Mangum

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