What are 5 facts about the northern lights?

What are 5 facts about the northern lights?

10 Bright Facts About the Northern Lights

• EXCITED ELECTRONS AND MAGNETIC FIELDS CAUSE THE SPECTACLE.
• SPECIFIC ATOMS CREATE SPECIFIC COLORS.
• THEY’RE ALWAYS THERE.
• THE AURORAS HAVE BEEN PROBED.
• THEY’VE BEEN OBSERVED FOR A LONG TIME.
• SUNSPOT ACTIVITY AFFECTS THE LIGHTS.
• THEY’RE THE STUFF OF LEGENDS.

What are some fun facts about the northern lights?

The science of the northern lights

• The northern lights are initially caused by the sun.
• An aurora display is actually a distortion in the earth’s magnetic field.
• The northern lights occur around 100km above the earth.
• The northern lights are only visible when it’s dark, but they can occur at any time.

What is the aurora for kids?

An aurora is a natural display of colored light in the night sky that occurs primarily in high latitudes of both hemispheres. In the Southern Hemisphere auroras are called the southern lights, or aurora australis. Auroras are named for the Roman goddess of the dawn.

What makes Aurora Borealis so special?

Bottom line: When charged particles from the sun strike atoms in Earth’s atmosphere, they cause electrons in the atoms to move to a higher-energy state. When the electrons drop back to a lower energy state, they release a photon: light. This process creates the beautiful aurora, or northern lights.

Can you touch aurora borealis?

Secondly, the aurora are essentially photon emissions from nitrogen and oxygen molecules, so you can’t really touch it (as much as you can ‘touch’ a sunbeam). Even the gas that emits the photons is extremely tenuous.

How old is the aurora borealis?

The earliest known account of northern lights appears to be from a Babylonian clay tablet from observations made by the official astronomers of King Nebuchadnezzar II, 568/567 BC. Some people claim to hear noises associated with the northern lights, but documenting this phenomenon has been difficult.

Where we can see Aurora?

• Fairbanks, Alaska. In Fairbanks, Alaska, the sky glows with the aurora borealis.
• Yellowknife, Canada. The aurora borealis spreads out above Prosperous Lake in Yellowknife, Canada.
• Tromsø, Norway.
• Northern Sweden and Finland.
• Greenland.
• Tasmania and New Zealand.

What causes the northern lights simple explanation for kids?

The Northern Lights are actually caused by electrons from solar winds. They are attracted to the poles by the magnetic fields found there. They mix with gases in the atmosphere, causing the gases to glow. Solar flares can also cause the Northern Lights to appear.

Do auroras make noise?

The northern lights do make noises that can be heard down on the ground. Other people who have heard the auroral sounds have described them as distant noise and sputter. “Because of these different descriptions, researchers suspect that there are several mechanisms behind the formation of these auroral sounds.

What are the Northern Lights for kids?

Fun Facts about the Northern Lights for Kids The name Aurora Borealis, another title for the Northern Lights, come from two ancient names. The Northern Lights are most visible to people living in the far north. The Northern Lights are typically green, purple, red or blue. Near the South Pole, people may see the Southern Lights or Aurora Australis.

Who discovered the first Aurora?

Well…The French astronomer Pierre Gassendi ( 1592 – 1655) is often credited with being the first to NAME them the aurora borealis or Northern Lights, but we know that these have been observed by ancient Chinese and ancient Greek peoples.

What is the definition of Northern Lights?

“Northern lights” is another name for the phenomenon known as “aurora borealis.”. According to Webster’s dictionary, aurora borealis is defined as “luminous bands or streamers of light sometimes appearing in the night sky of the northern hemisphere, believed to be electrical discharges in the ionized air.”. Since they tend…