Aurora Borealis: Nature Lights Up the Skies

All it takes is for the earth to have an atmosphere and the sun to eject ions at speeds up to 1200 km/second then BAM! You’ve got some unbelievable mother nature action

clipped from www.thethinkingblog.com Aurora happens in both the southern and northern hemispheres, particularly in the polar zone. It is called Aurora Borealis (also known as Northern Lights) in the Artic region and Aurora Australis in the Antartic region. Streaming plasma clouds, composed of fast moving charged particles, form a solar wind. interaction of the solar wind with the earth’s magnetic field that traps some of these charged particles. These trapped particles then flow along the magnetic field lines of the earth into the upper most regions of our planet’s atmosphere. That’s when the lights become manifest and their dance begins Aurora australis as seen from a Space Shuttle Red and green Aurora in Fairbanks, Alaska Aurora sightings in Oklahoma City Northern Lights over a house in Iceland Unknown location Northern Lights - Prince Albert, Saskatchewan Aurora over Arena, Wisconsin Northern Lights shine above Aurora australis captured