Everything You Need to Know About Tonight’s Spectacular Northern Lights
Solar Storm Sparks Rare “Aurora Extravaganza” Visible Far Beyond the Arctic What Are the Northern Lights? The Science Behind the Glow The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are a dazzling atmospheric phenomenon caused by disturbances in Earth’s magnetic field – typically from eruptions on the Sun. When the Sun flings off charged particles in a solar flare or CME, those particles stream toward Earth. Our planet’s magnetic field deflects most of them, but some energetic particles funnel down near the North and South Poles ts2.tech. There, they collide with atoms of oxygen and nitrogen high in the atmosphere, “exciting” those gas
