What are the Aurora Borealis?
The Aurora Borealis, also called the Northern Lights, are beautiful curtains of light created when fast electrons from the solar wind slam into the rarefied gas of the upper atmosphere. The mechanism of action is similar to the way electrons in a television generate specks of light when they impact the phosphor-coated inside of the screen. However, the physics of the Aurora Borealis are complex, and not perfectly understood. The energy of certain types of aurora probably derives from a dynamo effect of the interplanetary (solar wind-caused) magnetic field against the Earth’s magnetic field. This is similar to the way electricity can be generated by rotating a magnet within an electromagnetic coil.
