Page 167 - Super Earth Encyclopedia

SHIMMERING

LIGHT SHOW

AURORA BOREALIS

As night falls over the polar north, the sky is often
lit up by shimmering ribbons of vivid color that ripple
through the icy air overhead. This spectacular effect
is called the Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights.
The phenomenon occurs when electrically charged
particles that stream from the Sun are deflected toward
the North Pole by Earth’s magnetic field. The particles
slam into gas particles in the air, energizing them so
that they glow. The color depends on the altitude
of the collision and the type of gas.

AURORA AUSTRALIS

Charged particles streaming
toward the South Pole create
the Aurora Australis (the Southern
Lights), seen here from space.
Since it occurs above Antarctica,
the Aurora Australis is usually seen
only from ships on the cold Southern
Ocean, but it is sometimes visible
from southern New Zealand,
Tasmania, and the southernmost
tip of South America.

STATS AND FACTS

BAD OMEN IN SPACE
An aurora often
starts with a low, In the past, auroras Auroras also
that appeared over
occur on
soft green arc, like a Europe were seen other planets,
green rainbow, that as bad omens of such as Jupiter
gets brighter and war or plague. and Saturn.
bigger before other
colors such as blue, ALTITUDE The light show can extend EXTREME WEATHER
up to 190 miles (300 km)
violet, and red into the atmosphere.
appear. It can last
for a few minutes km 100 200 300 400
or several hours.
miles 100 200

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