What exactly are the Northern Lights?

Northern lights, also known as aurora borealis, are an interaction between Earth’s magnetic field and charged particles emitted by the sun. The sun has its own solar wind that sends out charged particles. These particles then spiral around Earth’s magnetic fields.

How Northern Lights are formed?

As solar wind approaches the Earth, it meets the Earth’s magnetic field. In the ionosphere, the ions of the solar wind collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen from the Earth’s atmosphere. The energy released during these collisions causes a colorful glowing halo around the poles—an aurora.

What is special about the northern lights?

The aurora borealis – otherwise known as the northern lights – is a vivid demonstration of the Earth’s magnetic field interacting with charged particles from the sun. It’s also beautiful, and worth braving a cold night out when visiting the high northern (or southern) latitudes.

Why do they call it the Northern Lights?

Though it was Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei who coined the name “aurora borealis” in 1619 — after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek god of the north wind, Boreas — the earliest suspected record of the northern lights is in a 30,000-year-old cave painting in France.

How many days a year can you see the Northern Lights?

The Northern Lights are actually active all year round. But because they are only typically visible in the aurora zone between 65° and 72° North, they are not visible from April through August when the aurora zone experiences nearly 24 hours of daylight.

How long do Northern Lights last?

The Northern Lights most commonly appear between 5:00 pm and 2:00 am. They don’t usually exhibit for long – they may only show for a few minutes, then glide away before returning. A good display may last for no longer than 15-30 minutes at a time, although if you’re really lucky, they could last for a few hours.

What happens if you touch the Northern Lights?

The aurora is emitted between 90 and 150 km in altitude (i.e. mostly above the ‘official’ boundary of space, 100 km), so ungloving your hand inside an aurora would likely be fatal (unless a fellow astronaut immediately reattaches your glove and repressurizes your suit).

Are northern lights visible in India?

To narrow it down, the Lights are ‘on’ through the year, but it is difficult to spot them from about April till August because of the summer sun. September to March is usually the ‘best time’ to see the Northern Lights. Autumn months, with bearable weather, are a good time to visit these Arctic lands.

Who discovered the northern lights?

The 17th century astronomer, physicist and philosopher, Pierre Gassendi, saw the Northern Lights on a trip in the North and named them the Aurora Borealis.

What are Northern Lights and how do they occur?

The Northern Lights occur when protons and electrons are propelled from the sun and strike the upper atmosphere of the earth. This stream of particles, or plasma, is called the solar wind. The earth’s magnetic field bends the particles toward the magnetic poles and as they move they strike the atmospheric particles.

What are the Northern Lights really look like?

When you see them in real life, the Northern Lights aren’t actually very colorful at all. They often appear milky white in color, ” almost like a cloud ,” as one seasoned traveler puts it. If you’re lucky, you might see faint glows of green, light purple or pink, and only in rare cases do viewers report bright, multicolored light shows.

What are some myths about Northern Lights?

The Myths behind the Northern Lights. The Finnish word for the Northern Lights – “revontulet” literally translates as “fire fox”. Sami Finland holds the belief that the lights are caused by the spume of water ejected by whales. Iceland associates the lights with childbirth and believed that, as long as the mother didn’t look at the Aurora,…

What do people thought Northern Lights were?

Throughout history, the Northern Lights have been surrounded by myths and legend. The Vikings thought the Northern Lights were the reflections of the ghosts of virgins. The indigenous Sami people thought you could hear the Northern Lights, as indicated by the Sami name Guovssahas which means the “light you can hear”.