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Auroras

An aurora is a natural light display in Earth's upper atmosphere caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with atoms in the atmosphere. These collisions excite oxygen and nitrogen, which emit light in green, red, and purple colors. In the Arctic, auroras are called the northern lights or aurora borealis; in the Antarctic, they are known as the southern lights or aurora australis. Auroras result from disturbances in Earth's magnetosphere caused by solar wind, creating dynamic patterns that appear as curtains, rays, spirals, or flickering lights. They matter because they reveal the interactions between the Sun's energy and Earth's magnetic field, helping scientists understand space weather and how the Sun affects our planet.

Sources

• en.wikipedia.org: “An aurora (pl. aurorae or auroras) is a natural light display in Earth's upper atmosphere caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with atoms in the atmosphere.”
• en.wikipedia.org: “These collisions excite oxygen and nitrogen, which then emit light of different colours such as green, red, and purple.”
• en.wikipedia.org: “Auroras are the result of disturbances in the Earth's magnetosphere caused by enhanced speeds of solar wind from coronal holes and coronal mass ejections.”
• images.nasa.gov: “An aurora sometimes referred to as polar lights, northern lights (aurora borealis), or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in the Earth's sky, predominantly seen in the high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic).”