How are the Northern Lights formed?

Lights. Christmas lights, street lights, spot lights, etc. There are a plethora of lights out there, but none of them are as pretty and as fascinating as the Northern Lights. How exactly are the Northern Lights formed? Could it be the magic of the elves working on Santa’s workshop? Or the reflection of the Valkyries’ armor as they lead their army to Odin? Well, let’s find out! 

The Northern Lights or as Galileo Galilei liked to call them the “Aurora Borealis”, are natural light displays that constantly change patterns. They can be seen as brilliant dancing curtains, rays, spirals and sometimes even flickers in the sky. It also comes in many colors; blue, red, yellow, green and orange! Contrary to popular belief they can be found in the northern and southern hemispheres. The auroras from the south pole are called “Aurora Australis”. 

The Northern Lights are caused when solar wind (gasses released by the sun) collide, or crash, with oxygen and nitrogen atoms found in Earth’s atmosphere. This collision releases energy that can be seen as a beautiful glow. The color that the auroras display is dependent on the atoms it interacts with and the altitude at which this interaction occurs. For example, if the solar wind collides with oxygen at a high altitude, it will produce a red glow, but if it hits oxygen at a lower altitude it would produce a green-yellow glow. Earth is not the only planet with a natural light display, Saturn and Jupiter also stage a show of their own!

Even though we now know that the Sun and the atmosphere play an important role in creating the Northern Lights, the effect is still very magical indeed. Can you imagine what they would look like in Jupiter or Saturn?

By Dr. Karen Ventura  

Question by Isaac