Aurora Borealis Geomagnetic Storm:
What causes The Northern Lights?
The aurora is one of the most spectacular displays in the night sky.
The aurora can be seen near the poles of both the northern and southern hemisphere.
In the north the display is known as the aurora borealis; in the south it is called the aurora australis.
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.
Most of these particles are deflected away, but some become captured in the Earth’s magnetic field.
What we are seeing therefore are atoms and molecules in our atmosphere colliding with particles from the Sun.
Different gases give off different colours when they are heated. The same process is also taking place in the aurora.
The green we see in the aurora is characteristic of oxygen, while hints of purple, blue or pink are caused by nitrogen.