what exactly is the northern lights?

Question

where can i see it, when can i see it, why is it what it is

Answer 1

Nature's own fireworks
Should you be outdoors one evening during winter, take a minute and glance up at the skies. If you're lucky you might catch a glimpse of some flickering curtains of lights, apparently dancing across the dark sky. You are watching the northern lights, a celestial phenomenon that has amazed people for centuries.

A well-known author after watching a beautiful aurora in its fullest splendour, concluded, "No pencil can draw it, no colours can paint it and no words can describe it in all its magnificence."

The name
The northern lights have had a number of names through history. The scientific name for the phenomena is Aurora Borealis, which is Latin and translates into the red dawn of the north. It was the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei (1564-1642) who first used the expression. On the latitude where Galileo was living, northern lights consist of mainly red colour.

Answer 2

The sun regularly sends out solar flares, or masses of hot burning gasses. Sometimes, when these flares are big enough, they reach earth. The particles that make up the gas are slowed down by the earths magnetic field. When a particle is slowed down, it loses energy by releasing a photon/light. These photons are discharged also by particles in our atmosphere. Different gasses being ionized created different colors.

Answer 3

Northern lights, also known by its original Latin name "Aurora Borealis", is the visible light emitted by excited molecules of air, when they are hit and ionized by electrically charged particles.
I recommend this link for more info on this and million other subjects:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_%28astronomy%29

Northern lights are usually seen in areas close to magnetic poles of our planet, i.e. extreme north and south. Configuration of the magnetic field of the Earth is such that the charged particles have hard penetrating it elsewhere.

Answer 4

The aurora is a bright glow observed in the night sky, usually in the polar zone. For this reason some scientists call it a "polar aurora" (or "aurora polaris"). In northern latitudes, it is known as the aurora borealis (IPA /ɔˈɹɔɹə bɔɹiˈælɪs/), which is named after the Roman goddess of the dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas. Especially in Europe, it often appears as a reddish glow on the northern horizon, as if the sun were rising from an unusual direction. The aurora borealis is also called the northern lights since it is only visible in the North sky from the Northern Hemisphere. The aurora borealis most often occurs from September to October and from March to April. Its southern counterpart, aurora australis, has similar properties.

Auroras are now known to be caused by the collision of charged particles (e.g. electrons), found in the magnetosphere, with atoms in the Earth's upper atmosphere (at altitudes above 80 km). These charged particles are typically energized to levels between 1 thousand and 15 thousand electronvolts and, as they collide with atoms of gases in the atmosphere, the atoms become energized. Shortly afterwards, the atoms emit their gained energy as light (see Fluorescence). Light emitted by the Aurora tends to be dominated by emissions from atomic oxygen, resulting in a greenish glow (at a wavelength of 557.7 nm) and - especially at lower energy levels and at higher altitudes - the dark-red glow (at 630.0 nm of wavelength). Both of these represent forbidden transitions of electrons of atomic oxygen that, in absence of newer collisions, persist for a long time and account for the slow brightening and fading (0.5-1 s) of auroral rays. Many other colors - especially those emitted by atomic and molecular nitrogen (blue and purple, respectively)[1] - can also be observed. These, however, vary much faster and reveal the true dynamic nature of auroras.

As well as visible light, auroras emit infrared (NIR and IR) and ultraviolet (UV) rays as well as X-rays (e.g. as observed by the Polar spacecraft). While the visible light emissions of auroras can easily be seen on Earth, the UV and X-ray emissions are best seen from space, as the Earth's atmosphere tends to absorb and attenuate these emissions.

They can be seen in northern states on winter nights and in canada

Answer 5

Lights in the North!

Answer 6

here's a good write up on them and clearly, the farther north you are, the better and they are unpredictable as to when they'll be around. They're caused by particles from the sun interacting with the earth's magnetic field.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_(astronomy)

Answer 7

They are the lights seen in the distance from the south side of town.

Answer 8

Aurora Borealis...Caused by solar flares that send out millions of particles into space...

Answer 9

the aurora borialis is caused by electrons hitting the upper atmosphere and the protons reacting to the electrons by "exploding" into many beautiful colors.

Answer 10

electromagnetic radiation from solar flares interacting with the magnetic field of the earth.