The Northern Lights (Aurora) (NEW YEAR SPECIAL)

What are the Northern Lights

 Hello guys, since it's New Year's Eve I thought I'd do a quick and easy blog about a well-known phenomenon, enjoy. Northern lights (known as Auroras) are one of the most interesting phenomena that occur on our planet. Mainly occurring in regions by Earth's poles, they are an amazing display of natural lights (mainly blue and green) that appear in different and dynamic shapes throughout the night sky. They usually occur from late August to April and are not harmful in any way to humans but they may harm technology or any electric structures.

Awesome infographic from facts.net

Cool facts about Northern Lights

How do they occur?

 They are caused by the activity of the sun, large solar storms cause a load of charged particles to interact with the gas atoms by the Earth's atmosphere. This interaction causes the colors and flashes, they're movement and structure depend on Earth's magnetic field. Magnetic fields have maximums strength at each pole, which explains why they are only visible in the North and Southern poles. Here is an in-detail explanation of why and how the sun's particles end up in our atmosphere from  https://www.theaurorazone.com/about-the-aurora/are-the-northern-lights-going-to-disappear, "Let us explain the science behind the Northern Lights. At ‘Solar Maximum’, there are many sunspots on the Sun’s surface, where streams of magnetic current arc in and out of the star. When these get especially active, it can lead to bursts of plasma from the Sun in the form of coronal mass ejections, which cause streams of charged particles to rush towards Earth. These interact with the planet’s magnetic field and create beautiful Aurora displays."

Norwegian Northern Lights display

Final Thoughts

I hope everyone has had a great year and has had a nice quick read of one of the most interesting phenomena and get ready for a new mysterious topic for next week. Enjoy the holidays, peace.