• Question: WHATS AN AURORA

    Asked by tinkywinky3000 to Claire on 24 Jun 2013.
    • Photo: Claire Lee

      Claire Lee answered on 24 Jun 2013:

      Hi tinkywinky! Glad you asked this 🙂

      An aurora is that beautiful colourful light display that you see in the sky sometimes, when you’re in the arctic circle.

      http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap110923.html

      Auroras come about because particles from the sun (solar wind) and charged particles in our atmosphere collide, sending out photons (light) making that awesome display. It happens near the poles, because the particles in our atmosphere are accelerated along the earth’s magnetic field lines, which come together at the poles so there are more of them there.

      You get the aurora borealis, which happens in the northern hemisphere, and the aurora australis, which happens in the south.

      Beautiful, right?

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