What Causes the Northern Lights and How Are They Seen from Earth?

The Northern Lights are magical lights in the sky caused by tiny particles from the sun dancing with Earth's atmosphere.

Particles from the sun, called solar wind, travel through space and hit Earth’s magnetic field like a giant shield. This shield is strongest near the poles, so most of the action happens there, that’s why we call them the Northern Lights (and Southern Lights in the south).

When these fast solar wind particles zoom into Earth's atmosphere, they bump into gas molecules, like oxygen and nitrogen. These collisions make the gas molecules excited, kind of like when you run around a lot and can’t sit still.

These excited molecules then release light, which we see as shimmering colors in the sky. Different gases shine different colors: oxygen glows green or red, and nitrogen shines blue or purple.

From Earth, we watch this dance like a show in the sky. Sometimes you can see them glowing softly, other times they twirl and ripple like a magical curtain, especially on cold, clear nights near the poles.