The Aurora Borealis is a charming natural event that has wooed the people of the earth for centuries
The Northern Lights are a delightful natural event that has wooed the people of the earth for centuries. For millions of people, observing the Aurora Borealis is a part of their bucket-list. On the blackest nights, a beautifully lit up wave changing colours in the sky is truly a picturesque scenario. Sadly, the Aurora Borealis is spotted on earth in certain places only. To watch the phenomenon, one must travel to places such as Iceland, Alaska (Fairbanks), Canada (Yellowknife), Norway (Tromso), Northern Sweden and Finland since these are the places where the Lights are frequent and appear perfectly.
Around the world, the Borealis is famous, but much may not be aware of the science behind the Aurora Borealis.
What generates the Aurora Borealis?
The Aurora Borealis takes place when gaseous particles discharged from the sun collide with gaseous particles present in the earth’s atmosphere. There are different gaseous particles present in the atmosphere because of which the distinctive colours occur in the sky. The most popular shade that emerges in the Northern Lights is pale yellowish-green shade. At around 96 km above the earth, yellowish-green shade is generated by oxygen molecules. Around 326 km above the earth, high altitude oxygen molecules constitute a red shade. Above that region, nitrogen forms blue shade or purplish-red shade.
The Sun is responsible
The Sun is 93 million miles away from the earth, but the Aurora Borealis results from atmospheric events of the Sun. The temperature of the Sun is extremely high because of which collisions between gas molecules occur practically every minute. When the collisions take place, electrons and protons are blasted away from the Sun because of its own rotation and they get dispersed in varied directions through the magnetic field holes.
Some particles reach the vicinity of the earth and are deflected away because of the earth’s magnetic field. However, the earth’s magnetic field is thin at the poles and a few particles penetrate the earth’s atmosphere. After infiltrating the atmosphere, those electrons and protons collide with the gaseous particles of earth’s atmosphere and the produce is the Aurora Borealis or the Northern Lights.
To experience the Northern Lights, one should visit the specified places in the article during winter since the duration of darkness is lengthier and the nights are generally cleaner.
