The Northern Lights “Nature’s Own Special Effects”
July 5th, 2009 by Jeff Hurtigruten, under Travel and Leisure. No Comments
The Northern Lights are often referred to as the Auroras, and they occur as beautiful extraordinary displays of natural light in the sky. These can normally only be seen at night, and in what is known as the Polar Regions. In those regions, sometimes the lights are referred to as Polar Auroras, or the Aurora Borealis. The closer one gets to the North Magnetic Pole, the more vivid and beautiful the Northern Lights become.
While the northern lights usually appear high overhead when viewed from a location close to the magnetic north pole, as one moves further away from the north pole, this magnificent display of natural light tends to illuminate the horizon from one end to the other in a marvellous greenish glow. Having said that, there are times when the northern lights appear to be more of a red colour rather than green. When one considers the way in which these lights can appear to dance in the night sky is hardly surprising that some people view them as being almost eerie in a way, and this is perhaps why they have been referred to as a “dance of the spirits”.
Even Benjamin Franklin theorized about why the Northern Lights occurred, saying that he thought that it was attributable to a specific absorption of electrical charges that happened in the polar regions, which was intensified by moisture such as snow. In actuality, the Northern Lights are created by an interaction between the solar wind and the earth’s magnetic field. They are produced when charged particles, such as electrons and protons, collide with the molecules and atoms in the earths upper atmosphere. This occurs at altitudes that are above 50 miles.
Scientific studies have shown that these charged particles are emitted from the sun, having arrived in the earth’s vicinity as a result of low energy solar wind. At this point the magnetic field of the solar wind becomes trapped and ends up being connected to the earth’s magnetic field. Eventually, these charged solar particles end up entering the magnetosphere before being accelerated towards the earth’s surface.
The greenish glow and the red colours which are so characteristic of the northern lights, is essentially due to the presence of atomic oxygen, nitrogen ions, and molecular nitrogen. In fact, the nitrogen ions also result in pinks, blues, and even violet on occasions as the different gases interact with the atmosphere.
Sometimes the auroras appear as what could only be explained as curtains in the northern lights. These striations can of course change depending on an observer’s perspective and on occasions they can appear as a beautiful Corona. At this time auroral arcs can often be seen forming and moving towards the equator at around midnight.
While it may be uncommon, the northern lights have been seen from various locations around the world and that such have even made the headlines. Rather than being the norm, this only happens at times when there’s been an above average ejection of coronal mass from the sun.
NASA has over the years has managed to record many wonderful Northern Light displays as they dance around the North Pole. Seeing these displays, as they were seen from outer space, can only be described as being, “amazingly beautiful”. In fact, the international space station has a huge number of photographs of this wonderful phenomenon.
