An aurora (plural: aurorae or auroras; from the Latin word aurora,

"sunrise" or the Roman goddess of dawn) is a natural light display in

the sky particularly in the high latitude (Arctic and Antarctic)
regions, caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with
atoms in the high altitude atmosphere (thermosphere) !he charged
particles originate in the magnetosphere and solar wind and, on
"arth, are directed by the "arth#s magnetic $eld into the
atmosphere %ost aurorae occur in a band known as the auroral
&one, which is typically '( to )( in latitudinal e*tent and at all local
times or longitudes !he auroral &one is typically +,( to -,( from the
magnetic pole de$ned by the a*is of the "arth#s magnetic dipole
.uring a geomagnetic storm, the auroral &one e*pands to lower
latitudes
Aurorae are classi$ed as di/use or discrete !he di/use aurora is a
featureless glow in the sky that may not be 0isible to the naked eye,
e0en on a dark night 1t de$nes the e*tent of the auroral &one !he
discrete aurorae are sharply de$ned features within the di/use
aurora that 0ary in brightness from 2ust barely 0isible to the naked
eye, to bright enough to read a newspaper by at night .iscrete
aurorae are usually seen in only the night sky, because they are not
as bright as the sunlit sky Aurorae occasionally occur poleward of
the auroral &one as di/use patches or arcs (polar cap arcs345), which
are generally in0isible to the naked eye
1n northern latitudes, the e/ect is known as the aurora borealis (or
the northern lights), named after the Romangoddess of dawn,
Aurora, and the 6reek name for the north wind, 7oreas, by 8ierre
6assendi in +)-+ Auroras seen near the magnetic pole may be high
o0erhead, but from farther away, they illuminate the northern
hori&on as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the 9un
were rising from an unusual direction .iscrete aurorae often display
magnetic $eld lines or curtain:like structures, and can change within
seconds or glow unchanging for hours, most often in ;uorescent
green !he aurora borealis most often occurs near the e<uinoctes
!he northern lights ha0e had a number of names throughout history
!he =ree call this phenomenon the ".ance of the 9pirits"
1n%edie0al "urope, the auroras were commonly belie0ed to be a
sign from 6od
1ts southern counterpart, the aurora australis (or the southern
lights), has features that are almost identical to the aurora borealis
and changes simultaneously with changes in the northern auroral
&one1t is 0isible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, 9outh
America, >ew ?ealand, and Australia Aurorae occur on other
planets 9imilar to the "arth#s aurora, they are 0isible close to the
planet#s magnetic poles %odern style guides recommend that the
names of meteorological phenomena, such as aurora borealis, be
uncapitali&ed
Aurora@s history
%ultiple superstitions and obsolete theories e*plaining the
aurora ha0e surfaced o0er the centuries 9eneca speaks
di/usely on auroras in the $rst book of his >aturales
Auaestiones, drawing mainly from Aristotle; he classi$es them
("putei" or wells when they are circular and "rim a large hole
in the sky", "pithaei" when they look like casks, "chasmata"
from the same root of the "nglish chasm, "pogoniae" when
they are bearded, "cyparissae" when they look like cypresses),
describes their manifold colors and asks himself whether they
are abo0e or below the clouds Be recalls that under !iberius,
an aurora formed abo0e Cstia, so intense and so red that a
cohort of the army, stationed nearby for $reman duty,
galloped to the city
Dalter Dilliam 7ryant wrote in his book Eepler (+F-,) that
!ycho 7rahe "seems to ha0e been something of a
homGopathist, for he recommends sulphur to cure infectious
diseases Hbrought on by the sulphurous 0apours of the Aurora
7orealis"
7en2amin Iranklin theori&ed that the "mystery of the >orthern
Lights" was caused by a concentration of electrical charges in
the polar regions intensi$ed by the snow and other moisture
Auroral electrons come from beams emitted by the 9un !his
was claimed around +F,, by Eristian 7irkeland, whose
e*periments in a 0acuum chamber with electron beams and
magneti&ed spheres (miniature models of "arth or "terrellas")
showed that such electrons would be guided toward the polar
regions 8roblems with this model included absence of aurora
at the poles themsel0es, self:dispersal of such beams by their
negati0e charge, and more recently, lack of any obser0ational
e0idence in space
!he aurora is the o0er;ow of the radiation belt ("leaky bucket
theory") !his was $rst dispro0ed around +F)- by James Kan
Allen and co:workers, who showed that the high rate of energy
dissipation by the aurora would <uickly drain the radiation
belt 9oon afterward, it became clear that most of the energy
in trapped particles resided in positi0e ions, while auroral
particles were almost always electrons, of relati0ely low
energy
!he aurora is produced by solar wind particles guided by
"arth#s $eld lines to the top of the atmosphere !his holds true
for the cusp aurora, but outside the cusp, the solar wind has
no direct access 1n addition, the main energy in the solar wind
resides in positi0e ions; electrons only ha0e about ,L eK
(electron 0olt), and while in the cusp this may be raised to L,M
+,, eK, that still falls short of auroral energies
>orthern Lights
DBA! AR" >CR!B"R> L16B!9N
!he bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions
between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the
earth#s atmosphere !he lights are seen abo0e the magnetic poles of
the northern and southern hemispheres!hey are known as #Aurora
borealis# in the north and #Aurora australis# in the south
Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and
pink are the most common 9hades of red, yellow, green, blue, and
0iolet ha0e been reported !he lights appear in many forms from
patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling
curtains or shooting rays that lightup the sky with an eerie glow
DBA! =AO9"9 !B" >CR!B"R> L16B!9N
!he >orthern Lights are actually the result of collisions between
gaseous particles in the "arth#s atmosphere with charged particles
released from the sun#s atmosphere Kariations in colour are due to
the type of gas particles that are colliding !he most common
auroral color, a pale yellowish:green, is produced by o*ygen
molecules located about ), miles abo0e the earth Rare, all:red
auroras are produced by high:altitude o*ygen, at heights of up to
-,, miles >itrogen produces blue or purplish:red aurora
!he connection between the >orthern Lights and sunspot acti0ity
has been suspected since about +PP, !hanks to research
conducted since the +FL,#s, we now know that electrons and
protons from the sun are blown towards the earth on the #solar
wind# (>ote:+FLQ:LP was 1nternational 6eophysical Rear and the
atmosphere was studied e*tensi0ely with balloons, radar, rockets
and satellites Rocket research is still conducted by scientistsat
8oker Ilats, a facility under the direction of the Oni0ersity of Alaska
at Iairbanks
!he temperature abo0e the surface of the sun is millions of degrees
=elsius At this temperature, collisions between gas molecules are
fre<uent and e*plosi0e Iree electrons and protons are thrown from
the sun#s atmosphere by the rotation of the sun and escape through
holes in the magnetic $eld 7lown towards the earth by the solar
wind, the charged particles are largely de;ected by the earth#s
magnetic $eld Bowe0er, the earth#s magnetic $eld is weaker at
either pole and therefore some particles enter the earth#s
atmosphere and collide with gas particles !hese collisions emit light
that we percei0e as the dancing lights of the north (and the south)
!he lights of the Aurora generally e*tend from P, kilometres (L,
miles) to as high as )4, kilometres (4,, miles) abo0e the earth#s
surface
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>orthern Lights can be seen in the northern or southern
hemisphere, in an irregularlyshaped o0al centred o0er each
magnetic pole !he lights are known as #Aurora borealis# inthe north
and #Aurora australis# in the south 9cientists ha0e learned that in
most instancesnorthern and southern auroras are mirror:like images
that occur at the same time, withsimilar shapes and colors
7ecause the phenomena occurs near the magnetic poles, northern
lights ha0e been seenas far south as >ew Crleans in the western
hemisphere, while similar locations in theeast ne0er e*perience the
mysterious lights Bowe0er the best places to watch the lights(in
>orth America) are in the northwestern parts of =anada, particularly
the Rukon,>una0ut, >orthwest !erritories and Alaska Auroral
displays can also be seen o0er thesouthern tip of 6reenland and
1celand, the northern coast of >orway and o0er the coastalwaters
north of 9iberia 9outhern auroras are not often seen as they are
concentrated ina ring around Antarctica and the southern 1ndian
Ccean
Areas that are not sub2ect to #light pollution# are the best places to
watch for the lightsAreas in the north, in smaller communities, tend
to be best
DB"> 19 !B" 7"9! !1%" !C DA!=B ICR AORCRAL .198LAR9N
Researchers ha0e also disco0ered that auroral acti0ity is cyclic,
peaking roughly e0ery ++years !he ne*t peak period is -,+'
Dinter in the north is generally a good season to 0iew lights !he
long periods of darkness and the fre<uency of clear nights pro0ide
many good opportunities to watch the auroral displays Osually the
best time of night (on clear nights) to watch for auroral displays is
local midnight (ad2ust for di/erences caused by daylight sa0ings
time)
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#Aurora borealis#, the lights of the northern hemisphere, means
#dawn of the north# #Aurora australis# means #dawn of the south# 1n
Roman myths, Aurora was the 6oddess of !he .awn %any cultural
groups ha0e legends about the lights 1n medie0al times, the
occurrences of auroral displays were seen as harbingers of war or
famine !he %aori of >ew ?ealand shared a belief with many
northern people of "urope and >orth America that the lights were
re;ections from torches or camp$res
!he %enominee 1ndians of Disconsin belie0ed that the lights
indicated the location ofmanabai#wok (giants) who were the spirits
of great hunters and $shermen !he 1nuit ofAlaska belie0ed that the
lights were the spirits of the animals they hunted: the seals, salmon,
deer and beluga whales Cther aboriginal peoples belie0ed that the
lights were the spirits of their people