The bright dancing lights of the aurora are actually collisions between
electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's
atmosphere. The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern
and southern hemispheres. They 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. Shades of
red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights
appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to
streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the
sky with an eerie glow.
The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora.