We've seen amazing auroras on Jupiter and Saturn. If a planet has an atmosphere and magnetic field, they probably have auroras. They sure do! Auroras are not just something that happen on Earth. This is the name for an aurora in the Northern Hemisphere. These green bands of light in the winter sky above Alaska are an aurora borealis. There, the particles interact with gases in our atmosphere resulting in beautiful displays of light in the sky. When a solar storm comes toward us, some of the energy and small particles can travel down the magnetic field lines at the north and south poles into Earth's atmosphere. During one kind of solar storm called a coronal mass ejection, the Sun burps out a huge bubble of electrified gas that can travel through space at high speeds. There is a constant streaming solar wind and there are also solar storms. The protective magnetic field around Earth shields us from most of the energy and particles, and we don't even notice them.īut the Sun doesn't send the same amount of energy all the time. The Sun sends us more than heat and light it sends lots of other energy and small particles our way. This beautiful view of the aurora was taken from the International Space Station as it crossed over the southern Indian Ocean on September 17, 2011.Įven though auroras are best seen at night, they are actually caused by the Sun. If you're near the South Pole, it is called an aurora australis or the southern lights. If you're near the North Pole, it is called an aurora borealis or northern lights. Frequently there are beautiful light shows in the sky. If you're ever near the North or South Pole, you may be in for a very special treat. Watch this video to learn all about auroras! Click here to download this video (1920x1080, 277 MB, video/mp4).
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