Northern Lights
In the darkness of night, bright colors of the northern lights leap and dance in the sky.
Have you ever slept outside in a tent?
Do you think the dog in the picture gets to sleep in the tent, too?
Have you ever slept outside in a tent?
Do you think the dog in the picture gets to sleep in the tent, too?
During solar storms, huge gusts of gas and high-energy particles erupting on the suns surface are expelled into the cosmos. Once ejected from the solar atmosphere, these magnetic storms hurl through space at speeds of a million miles per hour. Most coronal mass ejections, as they are called, dissipate into the space. But on occasion they will find their way to Earth, attracted to our planet's own magnetic poles and when these storms collide with earths atmosphere, polar auroras are created.
Science has helped us to understand these natural phenomena, but our ancestors found them to be equally terrifying and wonderfully magical. Some Indian cultures believed the light and movement of the aurora was caused by their ancestors spirits dancing. In Chinese folklore, a huge dragon flew through the night sky carrying a lighted torch in its mouth. Other cultures, frightened by the unexplained lights, believed it was a sign of evil spirits bring war and famine.
Both the Earth's poles experience polar auroras but unlike its southern counterpart, Aurora australis, it is Aurora borealis that most people are familiar with. Seen only in the darkest of skies, the northern lights are beautiful to witness but because of the magnetism in the solar storm, they can also create havoc with modern-day technology, disrupting electrical power grids and satellites. As scientist study the sun and learn more about our giant stars behavior, they're becoming better at predicating the solar storms and can take measures against possible harm while the cities and towns in the most northern regions gear up to celebrate one of natures most amazing light shows.
Science has helped us to understand these natural phenomena, but our ancestors found them to be equally terrifying and wonderfully magical. Some Indian cultures believed the light and movement of the aurora was caused by their ancestors spirits dancing. In Chinese folklore, a huge dragon flew through the night sky carrying a lighted torch in its mouth. Other cultures, frightened by the unexplained lights, believed it was a sign of evil spirits bring war and famine.
Both the Earth's poles experience polar auroras but unlike its southern counterpart, Aurora australis, it is Aurora borealis that most people are familiar with. Seen only in the darkest of skies, the northern lights are beautiful to witness but because of the magnetism in the solar storm, they can also create havoc with modern-day technology, disrupting electrical power grids and satellites. As scientist study the sun and learn more about our giant stars behavior, they're becoming better at predicating the solar storms and can take measures against possible harm while the cities and towns in the most northern regions gear up to celebrate one of natures most amazing light shows.
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