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Could neon or argon glow naturally in any way? What would be needed in the atmosphere?
P.S. Please don't change my question?
Katie Miller
Posted 2016-08-14T21:58:06.733
Reputation: 41
Can neon glow by some natural means?
Answers
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Yes. Gasses do that for real: it’s called an aurora.
JDługosz
Posted 2016-08-14T21:58:06.733
Reputation: 65 028
Yes, I understand, but doesn't that have to do with magnetism? I want the scientific specifics of how neon could be affected. – Katie Miller – 2016-08-15T03:44:36.663
1Read the linked Wikipedia article on how the magnetic field causes charged particles to hit the air near the poles. Neon is affected the same as any other gas—there’s just not any around in our planet. – JDługosz – 2016-08-15T03:47:47.660
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Prolonged geomagnetic reversal in combination with frequent solar flares. This would result in non-uniform auroras across the planet, as well as a potentially dangerous environment for lifeforms that can be affected by ionizing radiation.
A helium atmosphere floating on the heavier atmosphere, which so-happens to intersect one of the planetary Van Allen radiation belts. Helium would have a pink-orange uniform glow round-the-clock. If the species arrived on the planet instead of evolving there the likelihood of this increases (I'm unsure if solar activity would blow this secondary atmosphere off). Having a more massive planet than Earth with a similar planetary core might also improve the odds of this happening.
If the atmosphere contained large amounts of a noble gas lightning would flash with its color. You could also have a microscopic species (e.g. air-borne bacteria) that have evolved to emit light by charging the atmosphere around them - particularly fantastic if you apply this behavior to an annual breeding cycle.
Any form of ionizing radiation.
Other gases in the atmosphere might change the hue, though you would need to ask a real physicist for specifics. Remember that it's incredibly unlikely, if not impossible, for life to evolve on a planet with a purely inert atmosphere. If you use anything heavier than neon, you will need to explain how oxygen is available where life occurs. You can avoid the issue by having life only exist at high altitudes (mountains), or keep the air mixed with jet-streams caused by super-rotation.
Jonathan Dickinson
Posted 2016-08-14T21:58:06.733
Reputation: 121
1neon only glows red or orange when placed between electric fields, i think it's the same for argon.. but not sure. – Charon – 2016-08-14T22:02:13.573
Your Title doesn’t make sense. I'm editing it. I expect it’s OK since that’s the body of the question. – JDługosz – 2016-08-15T03:02:57.460
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@渡し守シャロン gas doesn’t glow because it’s in (not between) an electric field. The potential has to be high enough to ionize the gas. There are other ways to accomplish that too.
– JDługosz – 2016-08-15T03:12:26.4431One side comment, both argon and neon are heavier than oxygen... so this is probably not compatible with an oxygen environment if you wanted life too (the oxygen would float on top of the argon) – Chris J – 2016-08-15T09:15:32.870