Where Are The Northern Lights The Makeup Of The Atmosphere

5 Things You Didn't Know Nigh the Northern Lights

Fascinated by the northern lights? Here are five facts near ane of World's greatest natural wonders.

1. The colours of northern lights are determined by gas

The different colours of the northern lights are caused by collisions betwixt electrons entering the earth's atmosphere and gaseous particles. The colours depend on which gas is involved and how loftier in the ionosphere the reaction takes place. Oxygen causes dark-green lights at lower altitudes (lx miles above the globe), and cerise lights at higher altitudes (200 miles). Nitrogen particles causes blue or purplish-red lights.

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© Luke Johnson

2. the lord's day is what ultimately creates northern lights

Every bit mentioned higher up, aurora activity is acquired past electrons that enter the earth's atmosphere, but where do these electrons come up from? From the sun! That huge brawl of fire and gas goes through an eleven-year solar cycle which is measured past the number of sunspots (magnetic storms on the sun'due south surface) which are visible from Earth. The more sunspots nosotros can see, the more solar flare free energy is being released into space, eventually making its way to earth and into our atmosphere causing beautiful aurora activity.

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© Simon Gee

3. The "southern lights" are a thing too!

The northern lights also go by the name aurora borealis, a proper noun coined by Galileo in 1619 after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek proper name for the north wind, Boreas. However, did you know there is besides an aurora australis? Likewise known as the southern lights, information technology is the southern hemisphere counterpart to the aurora borealis, and is all-time to view from Antarctica. When the solar activity is at its maximum, the lights are at times visible in New Zealand, southern Australia, and southern Chile and Argentina.

4. y'all can see the northern lights in outer space

The northern (and southern) lights are visible from space. Astronauts on the International Space Station quite peradventure have the all-time view of the incredible phenomenon.

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© Mike Gere

5. nosotros aren't the simply planet with northern lights

Speaking of infinite, Earth isn't the only planet with aurora activity – NASA has shared photos of the lights captured on Saturn and Jupiter. In fact, auroras have been observed on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Venus, and Mars. That leaves merely Mercury every bit our galaxy's lone planet where an aurora has never been observed. In addition, Jupiter's moons, Io, Europa, and Ganymede, have been observed with lights as well.

Tin't get enough of Churchill's northern lights? Located straight beneath the auroral oval, it is one of the all-time places on Earth to watch the sky dance. Become your northern lights fix by checking out explore.org'due south Northern Lights Cam, which is mounted on the Churchill Northern Studies Centre.