The aurora borealis and aurora australis occur in the thermosphere.
They happen near the Earth's magnetic poles, in the north and in the south. Of course, in the south, the are no longer called "northern" lights.
the north and south poles
The auroras we see on Earth are a result of Earth's magnetic field funneling high-energy particles from the sun into Earth's upper atmosphere, where excited electrons in gas molecules create a glow. The moon has no magnetic field and no atmosphere.
See the Related Link for AuroraWatch, just subscribe and they will email you when Auroras are likely.
The weakest part of Earth's magnetic field is near the magnetic North and magnetic South poles. This is where magnetic field lines intersect with the Earth, and where you are most likely to see auroras during periods of high solar wind activity.
An Aurora Australis or an Aurora Borealis occurs when streams of particles from the sun's solar winds hit the earth's atmosphere at an angle (as can only happen at the poles). These particles interact with the edges of the earth's magnetic field and when they collide with the gases in the ionosphere, the particles glow creating curtains of blue, green and magenta. An aurora is sometimes accompanied by a crackling sound. The Aurora Australis appears around Antarctica and the Aurora Borealis appears around the Arctic.
Latitudes that are most likely to see glaciers are maritime areas north of 35˚N and south of 35˚S
The Arctic and the Antarctic regions.
The Arctic and the Antarctic regions.
The auroras we see on Earth are a result of Earth's magnetic field funneling high-energy particles from the sun into Earth's upper atmosphere, where excited electrons in gas molecules create a glow. The moon has no magnetic field and no atmosphere.
See the Related Link for AuroraWatch, just subscribe and they will email you when Auroras are likely.
The nearer you can get to the north or south magnetic pole, the more likely you are to see them, but they are never guaranteed. You can access forecasts on the internet.
We can't forecast auroras with any precision, but if you visit SpaceWeather.com, you'll see when the conditions are especially good for one. For example, if a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun strikes the Earth, auroras are quite likely, even if we cannot predict exactly WHERE they will be visible.However, auroras also sometimes appear even when we don't expect them, when no solar storm is in progress.
It's somewhat rare to see that far south, but not impossible. As the sunspot cycle starts to ramp up towards the max in 2012 you can expect a better than normal chance of seeing auroras just about anywhere in PA. Even still, the auroras likely to be seen in PA aren't going to be the impressive displays you can see further north in Canada and Alaska. Probably what you'll see in most cases is a bit of hazy color along the northern horizon, best veiwed in winter, when it won't be mistaken for summer haze. Goto www.spaceweather.com to see when auroras are likely happening in Pennsylvania or anywhere in the world!
The moon has an extremely weak electromagnetic field, so solar wind does not get caught in it like it does in Earth's. Even if the moon did have a substantial electromagnetic field, it has no atmosphere for the solar wind to react with to produce auroras.
In the north and south poles.
In Scotland, yesterday and the day before. On August 1, 2010, the Sun belched out a fairly substantial "coronal mass ejection" or CME. When a CME hits the Earth and interacts with the Earth's magnetic field (generally about 3 days after the eruption), we frequently see auroras at one or both polar regions. A strong CME, like this one, can generate auroras down to the mid-latitudes. In this case, auroras were seen as far south as Iowa. As the Sun comes out of its long "solar minimum", we can expect to see auroras more often at high latitudes.
On Earth, someone would most likely see less then half of a moon.
The northern and southern lights, also known as auroras, are created by solar wind particles interacting with gases in Earth's atmosphere. When these charged particles collide with gases such as oxygen and nitrogen, they emit light, creating the colorful displays we see in the sky. The Earth's magnetic field guides these particles towards the polar regions, which is why auroras are most commonly visible near the North and South Poles.