So, you know the Aurora Borealis are colourful streams of light that can be seen beaming through the night sky in winter, and that you need to travel to some place cold to see them. But where do they come from? What creates the different colours? What can you do for the best possible chance of catching a display? Check out our Northern Lights Fact Sheet and discover the answers to everything you’ve ever wondered about nature’s greatest spectacle... http://www.see-the-northern-lights.com/blog/fascinating-facts-about-the-northern-lights/

1. NORTHERN LIGHTS
FACT SHEET
How does the Aurora Borealis
phenomenon actually work?
1k
YG S
OX LE ace
D
I f
RE M s sur
0 h’
15 e Eart
ER ve th
OVm) abo
(24
1k
OV
m)
ER
GR
E
1 EN OXY
ve 50
the
MI GEN
Ear
th’s LES
abo
EN
(24
sur
fa
ce
OVE BLUE NITR
R 60 OGEN
m) a
bove
the E MILE
ar
S
(96 k
th’s s
urfac
PURPLE/VIOLET
e
NITROGEN
OVER 60 MILE
(96 km) above the
S
Aurora Borealis
Did you know that…?
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Earth’s surface
Tips for Seeing the Northern Lights
When particles from
the Solar System strike
the wind’s elements in
the Earth’s atmosphere,
they interact...
The different colours of the Northern Lights are
caused by the various gases in the atmosphere, which
collide with the incoming solar particles from the sun.
Solar winds leave the sun at incredible speeds of
approximately a million miles an hour. Once they enter
the Earth’s atmosphere, around 40 hours after leaving
the sun, they travel on the paths generated by the
Earth’s magnetic force.
There are a number of particles that create the
Northern Lights when they meet with the solar
winds, including oxygen and nitrogen. When these
particles float around and strike the solar winds,
depending on their distance from the Earth’s surface
and composition, they create a variety of colours.
The constant movement of these particles and the
frequency they meet each other makes the Aurora
look as though it’s moving.
When oxygen collides with the particles very high up
(over 150 miles above the Earth’s surface), red light is
produced, but when oxygen meets the particles lower
down (between 60 - 150 miles) yellow/green light can
be seen. Nitrogen molecules approximately over 60
miles high produce a purple light, and lighter gases
such as hydrogen and helium under 60 miles above
the earth can create pretty blue and violet colours,
although these are more rarely seen.
As well as beautiful colours, the Aurora Borealis also
create a weird sound. This noise has been compared
to the sound of applause by the few lucky people
who have been close enough to hear it.
When astronauts are on board the International Space
Station, they can see them from the side as they are at
the same altitude as the Northern Lights.
Most Northern Lights displays occur between 50 and 75
miles above the Earth’s surface but the highest can occur
at a height of 620 miles.
Shapes and sizes of Northern Lights displays can
range from a narrow arc or strip of light horizontally
across the sky, to mesmerizing swirls, curtains and
columns of light that look like beams.
The more solar flares present, the livelier and more
vibrant the spectacle.
Jupiter, Saturn, Neptune, Mars and Uranus also
experience Auroras. They’re different to what we see
on Earth, and Uranus, for example, sees Auroras in the
form of faint dots glowing in the sky.
The Aurora Borealis is named after Aurora, the Roman
goddess of dawn and Boreas, the Greek name for the
North Wind.
Aurora shows can cause interference to
satellite communications.
•
•
The best time to go
is in the winter, between
November and April.
You’ll have to stay up late
as the best time to see
the lights is between
9pm-1am, and the longer
you stay out, the better
your chances of seeing
the lights in all their glory.
•
•
Digital cameras on tripods
give you the best chance
of capturing the lights in
a photograph.
It will likely be much
colder than you’re used to
so make sure to bring a
lot of layers and a sturdy
pair of boots made for this
kind of weather.
History of the Aurora Borealis
•
•
•
•
•
•
Some Inuit feared the Northern Lights as they believed
that the Auroras in the sky could decapitate people if they
whistled at the lights, but others thought they could
see friends or family dancing in the next life.
Finnish people call the Northern Lights “revontulet”,
which means fox fires. Legend has it that foxes made
of fire lived in northern Finland and as they ran along,
their tails would whisk up sparks into the atmosphere.
The sun’s cycle of activity takes 11 years, and during a
solar maximum, the most active part of the cycle, there
is so much intensity that in 1859, the Northern Lights
were seen as far south as Rome.
In 1989, a geomagnetic storm meant that the Aurora
Borealis were about to be seen as far south as Cuba
and Florida!
The Cree people call it the ‘Dance of the Spirits’.
Medieval Europeans thought the lights were a sign from God.
Tel: 01622 608 266 Web: www.see-the-northern-lights.com