EXPLANATION TEXT: AURORA

How Aurora Phenomena Happen

Do you know about aurora? Can you tell me how aurora occurs? Well, let me explain it. An aurora (Latin word mean “sunrise”) is natural light display in the sky in the poles (north and south) caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high altitude atmosphere. In the northern latitude, the effect is known as aurora borealis (aurora: the goddess dawn, borealis: north wind). While in the Antarctic region, the effect is known as aurora australis. They illuminate the northern and southern horizon as greenish glow or sometimes faint red, occasionally blue but most often in fluorescent green. Auroras can be seen at night because their light is not as strong as the light of the day.

The aurora phenomenon occurs when the sun produces solar wind. Solar wind is a stream of electrons and protons which are released from the sun due to the high kinetic energy. These particles are charged and contain energy, which means they contribute to electricity. In other way, our planet is surrounded by a super-sized magnetic sheath which is usually called the Magnetic Field of the Earth. Sometimes this solar wind hits the Earth. Some of these charged particles lead to the poles of the earth at a speed that keeps growing. The collision between these particles and atoms present in the earth’s atmosphere, it releases the energy that causes the formation of colorful auroras at the poles of the earth, which looks like a big circle around the pole.

Why Aurora is only found in the earth’s poles? This is because the north and South Pole magnetic field is very strong compared to other regions. The poles of this magnetic field pull the protons and electrons from the solar wind. So the phenomenon is more common in the Polar Regions.

However, sometimes the Aurora can also appear at the top of the mountain in a tropical climate, but this phenomenon is extremely rare. Aurora phenomena have been observed on other planets than Earth that have a magnetic field, such as Jupiter, Saturn and more recently Mars. It is believed to be a widespread phenomenon in the Solar System and beyond.