• Question: what is the northern lights made of

    Asked by Sundus to Andres, Catherine, Darren, Ellie, Samantha on 15 Nov 2016.
    • Photo: Samantha Watson

      Samantha Watson answered on 15 Nov 2016:


      I love the northern lights – saw them from the plane on the way home from a holiday to norway (where we failed to see them as it was too cloudy).

      They are caused by the earth’s magnetic field interacting with charged particles coming from the sun.

    • Photo: Andres Olivares del Campo

      Andres Olivares del Campo answered on 15 Nov 2016:


      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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