What are the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are the magnificent display of colored lights that occurs near the earth’s north Magnetic pole.

If you live far enough north, you may have seen the magnificent display of glowing, flickering colored lights high in the clear night sky.

The northern lights are one of nature’s most dazzling shows.  They begin as tiny flickering lights.  They grow and grow until they seem to light up the whole sky.

Sometimes they look like a great, fiery curtain with flames of red, orange, green and blue.

At other times they may flash here and there like giant search-lights, or the brilliant rays may spread upward in the shape of a gigantic fan.

Aurora Borealis

The northern lights are caused by the sun.  On the sun there are often great storms.  We call them sunsports.

Streams of tiny electric particles shoot out toward the earth.

When these electric particles reach the rare gases high above the earth’s surface, they cause them to glow brightly, very much like a neon sign glows.

People who live near the South Pole see glowing lights, too!  These are the aurora australis, or southern lights. – Dick Rogers