What are the auroras caused by?

What are the auroras caused by?

The lights we see in the night sky are in actual fact caused by activity on the surface of the Sun. Solar storms on our star’s surface give out huge clouds of electrically charged particles. The aurora’s characteristic wavy patterns and ‘curtains’ of light are caused by the lines of force in the Earth’s magnetic field.

What are the 2 auroras and what causes them?

The “northern lights” are caused by collisions between fast-moving particles (electrons) from space and the oxygen and nitrogen gas in our atmosphere. These electrons originate in the magnetosphere, the region of space controlled by Earth’s magnetic field.

What is the cause of the aurora lights seen in the northern and southern hemispheres?

What are Northern Lights? The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth’s atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres.

What causes the auroras in the upper atmosphere?

Auroras are caused by the interaction of energetic particles (electrons and protons) of the solar wind with atoms of the upper atmosphere. These charged particles move in spirals along the magnetic field lines. Those particles in turn hit the atmosphere.

How does Aurora Borealis happen?

What Causes the Aurora? Auroras result from emissions of photons in the Earth’s upper atmosphere (above 80 km, or 50 mi), from ionized nitrogen atoms regaining an electron, and from oxygen and nitrogen atoms returning from an excited state to ground state.

How are auroras formed in the upper atmosphere?

The aurora are caused by charged particles from the solar wind hitting atoms in the Earth’s upper atmosphere. The Sun emits a stream of electrons and protons called the solar wind. These particles interact with the Earth’s magnetic field and are funneled towards the magnetic poles, which is why aurora are visible at high latitudes.

Where does the light from the Aurora Australis come from?

The aurora australis or Southern Lights are seen in the southern hemisphere. The light you see comes from photons released by oxygen and nitrogen in the upper atmosphere. Energetic particles from the solar wind strike the layer of the atmosphere called the ionosphere, ionizing the atoms and molecules.

Why do auroras have different colors of light?

Why the different colors? The color of the aurora depends on which gas is being excited by the electrons and on how much energy is being exchanged. Oxygen emits either a greenish-yellow light (the most familiar color of the aurora) or a red light; nitrogen generally gives off a blue light.

Where does the aurora borealis appear in the night sky?

Named for the Roman goddess of dawn, the aurora is a mysterious and unpredictable display of light in the night sky. The aurora borealis and aurora australis – often called the northern lights and southern lights – are common occurrences at high northern and southern latitudes, less frequent at mid-latitudes, and seldom seen near the equator.