The aurora borealis and aurora australis occur in the Ionosphere from around 100 km up. This layer of the atmosphere is also called the Thermosphere.
The aurora borealis (northern lights) form when charged particles emitted from the sun during a solar flare penetrate the earth's magnetic shield and collide with atoms and molecules in our atmosphere. These collisions result in countless little bursts of light, called photons, which make up the aurora.
who came up with the name creators
The proto-into-europeans came up with *s(u)wen. It mutated from there into the English word "sun" through proto-Germanic sunnon and Old English sunne.
The Aurora Borealis (North) and Aurora Australis (South) have roughly a 2500 mile radius limit from their magnetic poles, although the phenomenon occurs on the perimeter of a more elliptical shape (the auroral oval).This distance and the vivacity varies with the energy of the solar storm temporarily expanding in to temperate latitudes on occasions, and even visible to equatorial regions roughly once a decade (due to the 11 year sun spot cycle), although a common occurrence in the polar regions and regularly visible in Canada/ Alaska, far Northern Europe and Asia (Borealis) and South America and south Australasia (Ausralis).The Aurora is essentially only visible by night and when it is clear and dark (free from light pollution), and it is most active around midnight (the opposite side to the sun due to the geometry of the magnetic field and solar winds). The Geomagnetic storms that ignite auroras occur most during the months close to the equinoxes. This is due to the IMF (Interplanetary Magnetic Field -coming from the sun) linking up with Earths magnetic field in a specific geometric way that allows an easy flow of particles in to the earths inner magnetosphere. The Suns IMF is spiraled due to the suns rotation and it is during April and October (the equinoxes) that the earth's magnetic axis align with this spiral.This, however, is not the only influence on geomagnetic activity, also because the suns rotation axis is tilted (8 degrees in comparison to earths orbit) the speed of the solar winds from the sun rise and decline in a 6 month cycle, with the strongest winds by about 12% (50km/s) occurring early September and early March. In solar storms, however, the speed can increase many times, as can the IMF.
If you are looking up at the aurora borealis while you are walking, it would be possible for you to stub your toe on a rock. Otherwise, no. The Aurora Borealis works exactly the same as a fluorescent light; electrical currents running through the near-vacuum of the ionosphere. Except prettier.
The aurora borealis and aurora australis occur in the Ionosphere from around 100 km up. This layer of the atmosphere is also called the Thermosphere.
We saw an awesome Aurora Borealis in Goteborg. Our ship was tied up alongside the Volvo company. Lots of good views. Friendly and happy people showed us a pretty good timel
Aurora are generated when magnetic storms from the sun hit the earth's atmosphere and interact with it. Both polar regions experience aurora: Aurora Australis occurs in the Southern Hemisphere, and Aurora Borealis occurs in the Northern Hemisphere.
The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, is a natural phenomenon, just like sunshine, rain, snow, clouds, and so on. Auroras are normally caused by particles emitted from the sun that eventually reach the atmospheric particles that are located high above the earth, giving them an electrical charge that causes them to glow. People who live in the northern latitudes have always noticed them; they didn't have to be "discovered." All they need to do is look up in the sky and they'll see the Aurora Borealis when they are present.
The Aurora Borealis doesn't have a set size or color- it is a phenomenon caused by electrons produced by the sun exciting the atoms in Earth's atmosphere. It can be as large as a huge ribbon stretching across the sky to the tiniest thread; it all depends on the sun.
The aurora borealis (northern lights) form when charged particles emitted from the sun during a solar flare penetrate the earth's magnetic shield and collide with atoms and molecules in our atmosphere. These collisions result in countless little bursts of light, called photons, which make up the aurora.
Northern lights is the name of a light phenomenon (aurora borealis) often seen in northern regions. The lights have been around since Earth formed an atmosphere, the dinosaurs saw it, early humans saw it and our descendants will see it. The scientific name for the phenomenon is "Aurora Borealis", aurora for short. Go as far north as you can go for the best views and you must be away from ambient lighting for a decent view. Charged particles from the Sun are accelerated by the Earth's magnetic field and the collisions these particles have with atoms of Nitrogen and Oxygen in the upper atmosphere (60 - 90 km up) excite the electrons of the atoms, when the electrons fall back to a lower excitation state they emit light we see this light as the aurora.
The aurora borealis is the closest thing to "nothing" that you can actually see; it is VERY thin air, partially ionized by the solar radiation spiraling in toward the Earth along the magnetic field lines. It is, for the most part, above the highest altitude that aircraft can reach. If you were to go up in a high-altitude balloon and jump out with a space suit and a parachute, you could "fall into the aurora borealis" and suffer no ill effects. Without the space suit, you would be dead in moments from lack of air, and without a parachute, you would be killed on impact with the ground 30 miles below.
Aurora Australis means "Southern Lights", the opposite to "Aurora Borealis" in the north. (Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn, (similar to the Greek goddess Eos) and Australis is the Latin word for South.)The Aurora Australis are lights up in the sky that you can only see from the Southern Hemisphere. These silent 'fireworks' you often see on a clear winter night in a variety of shapes and colours! Sometimes the Aurora Australis is over 100-250 km above the ground. The aurora forms huge oval halos of radiation around the earth's magnetic poles.The auroras can disrupt power systems, navigation systems, communications, and more.An Aurora Australis 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 collide with atoms of the oxygen and nitrogen gases in the ionosphere and the particles glow creating curtains of blue, green and magenta. An aurora is sometimes accompanied by a crackling sound.Like the Aurora Borealis (northern lights) but in the southern hemisphere.
The Southern Lights, also known as the Aurora Australis, are just like the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis. They result from charged particles from the sun that are deflected by the earth's magnetic field, which is strongest at the poles, which are where most of these charged particles end up.
Probably the best civilized place would be somewhere up in northern Alaska. You can probably book a flight and a hotel in any city up there.