What causes auroras and why are they more visible now?

Auroras are lights in the sky caused by space particles dancing with Earth’s magnetic field, and they’re more visible now because there are more charged space particles coming from the sun.

Imagine you're playing with a balloon. When you rub it on your hair, it gets charged up, like a tiny battery. Then you can make little bits of paper float in the air without touching them. That’s how charged space particles, called electrons and ions, work when they come from the sun.

These particles travel through space until they hit Earth's magnetic field, which acts like a shield, but not a perfect one. Some slip through and zoom down to our atmosphere (the air around us). When these fast-moving particles crash into gases in the sky, like oxygen or nitrogen, they make them light up, just like when you flick a light switch on a lamp.

Sometimes the sun sends out more charged space particles than usual. This is called a solar storm, and it’s like when your balloon gets extra charged from rubbing your hair really fast. These storms make more lights in the sky, and we can see them even if they're not as far north as they used to be. It's like having a bigger, brighter light show in the night sky!