What are the northern lights and are they related to space weather?
The northern lights, also called the aurora borealis, is electromagnetic radiation caused by electrons colliding with molecules in the ionosphere. This spectrum of electromagnetic radiation ranges from infrared to ultraviolet. The visible spectrum is dominated by white and green light produced by excited oxygen molecules and pink light emitted from nitrogen. When the sun is active, it often produces mass ejections that interact with Earth’s magnetic field. Electric currents begin to flow in the upper atmosphere, and these currents produce the aurora borealis, which occurs almost simultaneously around both the north and south poles.
