Northern Lights

These magical lights dance their way across the night sky, swathing the nocturnal darkness in bright hues of the rainbow. This positively mesmerizing display draws thousands of spectators every year who flock to view the surreal spectacle for themselves. This magnificent show may seem like the work of Hollywood or a hallucination, but it is very much real.

Also known as the Aurora Borealis in the Northern Hemisphere and the Aurora Australis in the Southern Hemisphere, the Northern Lights are the result of electrically charged particles spun off by the Sun entering the Earth’s atmosphere. Due to the Sun’s extraordinarily hot temperatures (think millions of degrees), gas molecules are frequently exploding, sending a cascade of charged protons and electrons into space. These charged particles make their way to Earth via the solar wind, where most are deflected by the Earth’s magnetic fields. At either of the Earth’s poles, however, the magnetic charge is weaker, and these particles are able to seep into the atmosphere, where they collide with gases. This collision creates the impressive display of colors we are able to see in the night time sky for portions of the year. The color of the Northern Lights on any given evening depends on the type of gas present where the collisions occur.