Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis)
Northern Lights (also known as the Aurora Borealis) are caused by interactions between the Sun and the Earth’s outer atmosphere. The Aurora Australis is the northern hemisphere counterpart to the Aurora Borealis, which may be seen in the southern hemisphere.
Also, as early as 1616, the astronomer Galileo Galilei coined the term aurora borealis to describe the phenomenon. Combining the names of the fabled Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for the north wind, Boreas, to describe the phenomenon. The aurora australis, often known as the southern lights, is a natural phenomenon that occurs around the south polar area.
Moreover, northern lights displays can take the form of patches, shooting beams, arcs, dispersed clouds, or streams of multi-colored light, among other shapes and patterns. They can be found in a variety of colors ranging from blue, yellow, violet, and red to the more typically encountered pastel pink and green. Also, the diverse hues that appear in the atmosphere causes by the presence of different types of gaseous particles in the environment. For example, the presence of oxygen molecules approximately sixty miles above the surface of the Earth causes a pale yellowish-green tint to appear. On the other hand, all-red auroras, which are more difficult to observe, are cause by the presence of oxygen at altitudes of up to two hundred miles in the atmosphere. The presence of nitrogen in the atmosphere results in the appearance of blue or purple hues.
In addition, despite the fact that most of these particles deviate away. It keeps in the Earth’s magnetic field and accelerate down towards the north and south poles, where they enter the atmosphere. In order to account for this, aurora activity focuses around the magnetic poles.
Cause
The lights we see in the night sky actually create by activity on the Sun’s surface, which is why we see them at all.
When solar storms occur on the surface of our star, they release massive clouds of electrically charged particles. These particles have the ability to travel millions of miles and some of them may collide with the Earth at some point.
Best Places to see the Northern Lights
Most people have their sights set on seeing the Northern Lights, but how can you track down a phenomena that is as elusive as it is spectacular?
Those seeking to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights should travel near aurora hotspots. In order to enhance their chances of seeing them.
- Jokulsarlon, Iceland. T
- Fairbanks, Alaska, United States.
- Paatsjoki, Finnish Lapland
- Unstad, Lofoten, Norway
- Cairngorms National Park, Scotland
- Kangerlussuaq, Greenland
- Yellowknife, Canada
- Tromsø, Norway
- Abisko, Sweden
- Muonio, Finnish Lapland
- Southern Hemisphere