Essay Sample about Auroras

Auroras are an incredible thing that occurs in the night sky. They are also called northern lights that can form throughout the night sky.

In the article Auroras created by the research group NOAA they state that “An aurora is a colorful light show in the sky caused by the Sun. Auroras happen when particles from the Sun interact with gases in our atmosphere, causing beautiful displays of light in the sky. Auroras are often seen in areas near the North Pole or South Pole.”   https://scijinks.gov/aurora/

 Some of the most common best places to see the northern lights are  Alaska, Canada, Norway, Sweden, Finland ect. Auroras are only visible at night and usually appear  in the northern and southern regions. 

The best time to view the Auroras lights is at night during winter months. This is because during the winter areas in the north and south poles have longer periods of darkness. An aurora, also known as polar lights, aurora polaris, northern lights, aurora borealis, southern lights, aurora australis, is a compact of colors that cross over the sky making beautiful wisps in the sky. The different colors of Auroras mean different things. According to National Geographic ¨The colors of the aurora vary depending on altitude and the kind of atoms involved. If ions strike oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere, the interaction produces a red glow. This is an unusual aurora—the most familiar display, a green-yellow hue, occurs as ions strike oxygen at lower altitudes¨. https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/aurora/

Do you think that Auroras appear on other planets? Here is what NASA has to say. “They sure do! Auroras are not just something that happens on Earth. If a planet has an atmosphere and magnetic field, they probably have auroras. We’ve seen amazing auroras on Jupiter and Saturn.” ¨The Sun sends us more than heat and light; it sends lots of other energy and small particles our way. The protective magnetic field around Earth shields us from most of the energy and particles, and we don't even notice them¨. Sometimes slight shapes appear before the next explosion. They disappear when the Sunspot energy reaches the lowest point.  https://spaceplace.nasa.gov/aurora/en/

Auroras don't just happen in one way there are many different forms of them.  ¨Banding: This is the most common form. Usually happens in the north but if the activity is high it will band across the south too. Beaming: Towering columns usually have the colors pink, green and a little purple and red, they usually move across the sky horizontally. The corona: This a tall crown shaped one, if you look up you can see strong colors and distinct shapes around the main one. Subastorm: the whole sky north and south will fill up with moving colorful beams that can collide with the corona shaped Auroras. So many different types can happen in one night. Swirling: Large swirls appear in the sky and this one is when you can see them actually moving with the naked eye. Post Explosion: After the Auroras dissipate then the sky is covered in a green haze.¨  Scientists have assumed that Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis would mirror each other. But they haven't yet.

 Auroras occur typically 30 minutes long and occur every two hours.  Auroras are created when solar wind collides with oxygen and nitrogen from the earth's atmosphere. Then energy that is released when they collide causes colorful halos and streaks along the sky of the north and south poles. They occur between 60-700 miles away from earth 's surface.  

NASA scientists explain how we can see the Auroras.¨The dancing lights of the aurora provide spectacular views from the ground, and also capture the imaginations of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the Sun. NASA studies auroras to better understand this complex space environment, which in turn can help us predict and mitigate its effects on communication signals and human technology¨. https://www.nasa.gov/aurora

Researchers of the Morgridge Institute for Research explains that ¨When the solar wind of electrons reaches the planet, they first encounter Earth's magnetic field, referred to as the geomagnetic field. This magnetic field will deflect the electrons. ... When it hits the back side of Earth's magnetic field, electrons are again drawn in toward the poles, creating the nighttime auroras¨. https://morgridge.org/blue-sky/why-do-the-northern-and-southern-lights-only-appear-near-the-poles/

The colors that appear in Auroras don't just appear randomly, the particles that make up the auroras represent the different colors. The color of the aurora depends on which gas is by the electrons and on how much energy is there. Oxygen presents either a greenish-yellow light or a red light. Nitrogen gives off a blue light.

What are solar winds? Solar winds are a stream of particles, mostly electrons and protons, flowing from the Sun. The faster the solar wind is moving, the likelier you are to see an intense northern lights display. The solar wind speed is measured by 1.5 million kilometres from the Earth.