An aurora, also commonly known as
the northern lights or southern lights, is a natural light
display in Earth's sky, predominantly seen in high-latitude regions.
Auroras display dynamic patterns of brilliant lights that
appear as curtains, rays, spirals, or dynamic flickers covering the
entire sky.
The northern lights appear when tiny
particles stream out from the Sun and hit Earth. The
particles give some of their energy to atoms and molecules of gases in
the upper atmosphere. But the atoms and molecules cannot hold the
energy. They give it off as another kind of energy—the colors of light
that we call the aurora.
These lights occur most often around the North Pole and South Pole
because the incoming particles have an electric charge. As
the particles arrive, Earth's magnetic field guides them
toward the poles.
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