Northern Lights

The Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are a kind of phenonemon found in the sky in Alaska, Antarctica, and other Northern places of the earth. There is a similar phenonemon called the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis, which is found in the Southern Hemisphere (Australia and New Zealand).

The Northern Lights are similar in tone to Saint Elmo's fire, which often appears on the masts of ships at sea. Sometimes they are accompanied by a buzzing or whistling noise. Scientists in the past tended to discount claims of Northern Lights, blaming such stories on drunken sailors, marsh gas, or the planet Venus, but these days the Northern Lights are accepted by the scientific community. This demonstrates the lack of certitude in science. (See scientific method).

For seeing the Northern Lights, one should travel to Alaska, or maybe to Iceland, known as the "Land of the Midnight Sun" for the great deal of nightly luminance there.

Scientific Explanation

The effect is caused the interaction between the solar wind, the Earth's magnetic field and the upper atmosphere. Solar wind is composed of charged particles, so the glancing particles in the particularly strong area of the magnetic field creates what seems like an electrical fireworks display.

See also

• Meteor
• Saint Elmo's fire
• The Golden Compass (originally published as Northern Lights)