The Northern Lights

The Northern Lights whose official title is Aurora Borealis are natural luminous light displays that occur, usually at night, in the North pole region, what is not so well known is that the same happens in the South pole region and they are called the Southern Lights. The closer to the magnetic North and South poles you are the greater the chance of seeing this beautiful display and the stronger it will be. The Northern Lights are among the most magnificent of all natural happenings and the displays appear in shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet. The lights are seen in a variety of forms such as patches of light, in the form of streamers, arcs, banks, rays, or resembling hanging curtains! The lights happen between 35 miles and 600 miles (56 kilometres-970 kilometres) above the earth.

The simplest explanation for the Northern Lights is that, just as the gas in a Neon light glows when charged with electricity from an electric socket, the gas in the atmosphere glows with certain colours when it is charged with electric particles from the sun.

The video below explains the Northern Lights and shows them in action.

Here are some more pictures of Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights

The Northern Lights are amazing!