Auroras. Also, people know them as Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) and Southern Lights (Aurora Australis). People love these lights and these lights have been amazing them for a long time as well. But most people don’t know how such an amazing phenomenon occurs. Scientists also asked a similar question and now they have the answer. Now, it’s your turn to know it.
When the highly charged electrons from the solar winds come in interaction with the elements of the atmosphere of earth, the auroras occur. The solar winds reach earth after approximately 40 hours leaving the sun, traveling at the speed of one million miles per hour following the lines create by earth’s core. Flowing through the magnetosphere, the electrons encounter nitrogen and oxygen’s atoms at altitude from 20 to 20 miles above the surface as they reach the planet.
Electrons and magnetic forces react with each other shifting the combinations, which we see as the aurora dance. It moves with atmosphere currents which are able to reach 20, 000, 000 amperes at 50, 000 volts. I tell you if you have a dream of touching the auroras then better to abandon that one.
The color of auroras depends on with which atom the electrons interact. If it strikes with oxygen above 60-150 miles in altitude then the color of the aurora will be green. The shades of green appear when it excites the oxygen at the altitude. The yellow and pink color makes the aurora even more beautiful but it appears very, very occasionally, a mixture of red with blue or green allies with high solar activity only.
Blue and purple are common colors of the auroras as it appears whenever the solar activity is high. When the electrons strike with nitrogen at the altitude of about 60 miles and less, the blue color appears. But red is not a common color in the Aurora, it appears when the solar particles interact with the oxygen at the higher altitude of 150 miles. Here, the oxygen is less excited and concentrated at the higher frequency than the lower down making red visible.
So now you know. If you want to watch this fascinating event then you can visit Norway, Finland, Sweden, Northern Canada, Scotland and other places. And don’t forget to write to us about your experiences in the comment segment.