An aurora happens when energetic electrically charged particles, like electrons, collide with atoms of gas as they accelerate along the Earth’s magnetic field lines in the upper atmosphere.

Those collisions cause the atoms to give off light. Auroras are a lot like neon signs, except that the conducting gas is in the Earth’s ionosphere instead of inside a glass tube. 

Frequently Asked Questions about Auroras

University of Alaska ~ Geophysical Institute

If you don’t find your answer here, you might try the FAQ at Poker Flat, or the Asahi Aurora Classroom. For even more in-depth information, I recommend David Stern’s educational files. A very nice and in-depth website with lots of animations is the COMET program at HAO (free, but registration is required). A good book (it’s hard to put web pages on a shelf…) that I recommend is “The Aurora Watcher’s Handbook” by Neil Davis.

Links to real-time geophysical data that are related to the aurora and aurora forecast can be found at University of Alaska Fairbanks. Links to websites with auroral photography and information are NASA, Aurora Service EU, Alaska Photographics, more links here, Michigan Tech & at Aurora Notify.

What is an aurora? What makes the color of the aurora? What is the altitude of aurora? What causes the aurora? Why does aurora have the shape of curtains? How often is there an aurora? Where is the best What place to see aurora? And what time is best? Do auroras occur on other planets? If so, which other planets? Can you hear the aurora? Are there auroral displays around the South Pole? How are they different? What is a proton aurora? What is a black aurora? Can you predict when and where there will be aurora? Does the aurora have any effect on the environment?

A luminous atmospheric phenomenon appearing as streamers or bands of light sometimes visible in the night sky in northern or southern regions of the earth. It is thought to be caused by charged particles from the sun entering the earth’s magnetic field and stimulating molecules in the atmosphere.

Auroras: What makes them happen?

Before we can understand auroras, we need a few facts about the space around our Earth. There are many things in this space that we can’t see.

One thing is the air we breathe, our atmosphere. It is really a mixture of several gasses, mostly nitrogen and oxygen, with traces of hydrogen, helium and various compounds.

A Field of Earth

Another thing we can’t see is a magnetic field that surrounds the Earth. If you’ve ever played with a bar magnet and iron filings you’ve seen the curved patterns the filings form in the magnetic field. The next picture shows how the magnetic field around the earth’s core is like the field of a bar magnet.

~*~

This wind is always pushing on the Earth’s magnetic field, changing its shape.  You change the shape of a soap bubble in a similar way when you blow on its surface. We call this compressed field around the earth the magnetosphere. The Earth’s field is compressed on the day side, where the solar wind flows over it. It is also stretched into a long tail like the wake of a ship, which is called the magnetotail, and points away from the Sun

Squeezing the Earth’s magnetic field takes energy, just the way it takes energy to compress a balloon with air in it. The whole process is still not fully understood, but energy from the solar wind is constantly building up in the magnetosphere, and this energy is what powers Auroras: (a full story)

Can I see them anywhere?
Yes. Although more frequent at higher latitudes, closer to the poles (such as in Canada, Alaska, Antarctica), they have been seen closer to the equator as far south as Mexico. To view them, look in the direction of the closest pole (the northern horizon in the northern hemisphere, the southern horizon in the southern hemisphere).

Can I see them at any time of the year?
Yes. In some areas, such as Alaska or Greenland, they may be visible most nights of the year. And they occur at any time of the day, but we can’t see them with the naked eye unless it’s dark.

What causes the colors and patterns?
Colors and patterns are from the types of ions or atoms being energized as they collide with the atmosphere and are affected by lines of magnetic force. Displays may take many forms, including rippling curtains, pulsating globs, traveling pulses, or steady glows. Altitude affects the colors. Blue violet/reds occur below 60 miles (100 km), with bright green strongest between 60-150 miles (100-240 km). Above 150 miles (240 km) ruby reds appear.

Read More on the Actual Look of Auroras without photography enhancement; ie: usually milky white or even grey.

Related articles

• A wonderful Arctic Website (Aqua Firma)
• Aurora lecture on channel 15 (auroranotify.com)
• Aurora Hunter (Website and Knowledge base)
• Unfurled aurora (blogs.discovermagazine.com)
• Aurora (Wikipedia)
• Aurora Pictures: Best Fall Photos of Northern Lights (news.nationalgeographic.com)