Aurora borealis or northern lights display over a hut in a forest at a high northern latitude. Auroral displays are caused by interactions between ene

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Aurora borealis or northern lights display over a hut in a forest at a high northern latitude. Auroral displays are caused by interactions between energetic charged particles from the Sun and gas atoms and molecules about 100 kilometres up in the upper atmosphere. A stream of charged particles (the solar wind) flows out into space continuously from the Sun at speeds of 400-500 kilometres per second. On reaching Earth, the charged particles are drawn by Earth's magnetic field to the poles, where they collide with these gas atoms and molecules, causing them to emit light.

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Photo credit: © LAURENT DOUEK/EURELIOS/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
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Keywords: arctic, astronomical, astronomy, astrophysical, astrophysics, atmosphere, atmospheric, aurora, borealis, building, earths, effect, electromagnetic, forest, hut, light, lights, meteorological, meteorology, northern, phenomenon, solar, space, weather