What causes the "northern lights" ?

Answer 1

Ionized particles are ejected by the sun in a spray called the solar wind. The solar wind bombards the earth and our magnetic field - due to it's shape - funnels these particles towards the poles of the planet.

The ionized particles carry a small charge and when this charged particle comes in contact with the gases in the upper atmosphere, it discharges it's energy and excites the gas causing a glow.

The different colors of the aurora are due to different gases in their excited states. Green aurora is due to Oxygen, blue is associated with Nitrogen, etc.

Answer 2

The Northern Lights occur due to Ionized gases and some small solids that are "spit out" from the sun. They are ejected due to solar flares that occur due to complex chemical reactions that take place on the sun's surface. These fares can extend hundreds of miles from the surface of the sun and particles from those flares travel millions of miles to earth. they are called the "Solar Wind".

An Ionized particle is a molecule that has lost or gained an electron. Ionization occurs in extremely high temperatures, thus some times creating unstable molecules. This state of matter is known as "plasma"

The solar wind moves extremely quickly at about 300 to 1200 kilometers a second.When these fast moving molecules reach earth, they are channeled to the Northern and Southern Most parts of earth due to the Earth's electromagnetic field called the "Magnetosphere". The reason they give a beautiful appearance is because the ionized solar particles(plasma) chemically react with gases in the atmosphere. Different gases create different colors. Blue, Indigo and Violet indicates that Nitrogen is reacting with the atmospheric gases, Green and Yellow indicate that Oxygen is reacting with atmospheric particles and so on. These lights are basically electromagnetic radiation, light is also electromagnetic radiation, the only difference is that light is made up of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Ind ego, and Violet. These lights are just one fraction or one part of light.

The Northern Lights are found in uniform lines or sets that is believed to be due to the form of the earths magnetosphere.

Infrared, X-ray, and Ultraviolet rays are also present in the Auroras but cannot be seen with the human eye.

The Northern lights occur all the time, but are only seen at night due to the fact that the sunlight is much more powerful than the light from the Northern lights.

The scientific name for the Northern Lights is "Aurora Borealis. " In the antarctic they also get their share of the Auroras, but there they are called the "Aurora Australis"
Borealis meaning north and Australis meaning south in Latin.
Sigtings occur as far south as the Northern United States for the Aurora Borealis and as far north as Southern Argentina for Aurora Australis. One more frequently sees the lights Above the Arctic and Antarctic circle in the winter months due to being closer to the electromagnetic hotspot and being darker for long periods of time. Auroras can exist for Several minutes at a time and sometimes "sway" really beautifully.

Here is a link to some breathtaking photos of Auroras

http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&q=Aurora+Borealis+pictures&um=1&sa=N&tab=wi

Sincerely

Answer 3

Ionised particles from the Sun stream away from the Sun in what is known as the Solar wind. When these particles reach the Earth, they are deflected by the magnetic lines of force towards the north and south magnetic poles. As the particles move into the upper atmosphere near the poles, they can be seen as the auroras. The one in the north is the aurora borealis while the one in the south is the aurora australis. "Boreal" and "austral" mean "north" and "south" respectively.

Answer 4

I have been given a miles better question for ya. the place does all the warmth pass interior the ambience purely touches the earth. area does not count quantity for touching because of the fact area does not have something. Norther lighting fixtures furniture - Radiation from the sunlight.

Answer 5

ok ima seem like a geek but i know the answer to this. at both poles the earths magnetic field is the weakest, so the light is actually caused by radiation hitting our atmosphere