![aurora lights aurora lights](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/presto/2019/09/02/PDTF/87d96932-a4e6-40a5-bf0b-c40f5686ef70-tom_jones.jpg)
These types of Northern Lights are most common after midnight. Underneath, you may see pale patches of light appearing and disappearing randomly and with different duration but usually only a few seconds. When the extra energy transmitted to the magnetosphere from the solar storm is reducing, you may see pulsating Northern Lights.
![aurora lights aurora lights](https://lightsoverlapland.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/SLS0193.jpg)
The most intense activity may not last more than 10 minutes so the trick is to check the sky often! The shades and shapes change very suddenly. On these occasions, the light can be strong enough to read a text in a book or magazine. The most intense Northern Lights, which appear after solar storms, the entire sky can be filled by incredible shapes and colors including green, red, blue and violet. If you are watching the same Northern Lights, but from a location further south or north, it will appear as an arch. If you stand right underneath the northern lights in the same direction as the magnetic field, the Aurora rays appear to originate from one single point and radiate outwards. The length of the arc can reach up to 1000 km or more, while its width can be limited to as little as 100 m.Īn aurora band is similar to an arc but crimped or curled into a spiral. You may see rays of light that appear in the same direction as the Earth’s magnetic field. Sometimes, the arc can be active and start moving so it looks like curtains. The bottom of the arc is quite sharp while the upper edge is blurred. Usually it is green and with fuzzy edges. Early at night, it is usually a grand arc stretching across the sky from east to west. What Northern Lights look like – arch, band, coronasĪurora Borealis can appear in many different shapes. The storm lasts about 10-30 minutes and afterwards the Northern Lights are usually extra strong. These interruptions take place in the Auroral Oval and are caused by changes in the magnetic field and charged particles within it. Of all this energy, only a small fraction filters through to the atmosphere, and an even smaller fraction becomes visible as Northern Lights.Ī magnetic substorm (solar storm), is an interruption in the magentic field. Planets with magnetic fields have magnetospheres, but other space objects and even entire galaxies can have them as well.Įvery second, the edge of the magnetosphere, the magnetopaus, is hit by enourmous amounts of energy. The solar wind envelops the magnetic fields of the Earth in a bubble, creating our magnetosphere that works as a shield against particles traveling in space. Most of the plasma in the solar wind travel around the Earth, kind of how water travels past a rock in a stream. The Earth creates a barrier for the solar wind.
![aurora lights aurora lights](https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zp_BIYF_AXc/TdM0yM_DpQI/AAAAAAAAABg/gaoJGEu5noo/s1600/Aurora%2Blight.jpg)
Also, atoms have neutrons which are not charged at all. In gas, all electrons (negative energy) and protons (positive energy) are organized in atoms and there are equally many of both kinds so they balance each other.
![aurora lights aurora lights](https://www.lucidaa.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/Image-3-12.jpg)
Gas has no electric energy whereas plasma does. Plasma is kind of gas, but there is one significant difference. These particles are collectively called plasma. The solar wind consists of protons and electrons discharged from the Sun at a speed of 400 km per second. In order for the charged particles in space to reach the high speed that is required to create Northern Lights, they need the energy from the Sun.