Seeing the northern lights is one of the top things in my bucket list!
As Sam said, the sun emits all sort of particles. Some of these are charged, like electrons, which means that they can interact with light and the electromagnetic field.
Close to the poles, the magnetic field of the Earth is quite strong. This field drives the charged particles that come from the sun, allowing them to enter the atmosphere. But, what you actually see, is the interaction of the charged particles from the Sun with the gases in the atmosphere! These gases get “excited” when the charged particles hit them and they emit light of different colours depending on each particular gas!
The effect is the same that happens with neon signs. Similarly, the fluorescent colour is due to the excitations of neon. But here, the excitation is produced with electricity instead!
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