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How The Northern Lights Are Created VIDEO

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What happens in an aurora is similar to what happens in the neon lights we see on many business signs. Electricity is used to excite the atoms in the neon gas within the glass tubes of a neon sign. That’s why these signs give off their brilliant colors.

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When the charged particles from the sun strike atoms and molecules in Earth’s atmosphere, they excite those atoms, causing them to light up.

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What does it mean for an atom to be excited? Atoms consist of a central nucleus and a surrounding cloud of electrons encircling the nucleus in an orbit. When charged particles from the sun strike atoms in Earth’s atmosphere, electrons move to higher-energy orbits, further away from the nucleus. Then when an electron moves back to a lower-energy orbit, it releases a particle of light or photon.

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-The air is made up largely of nitrogen and oxygen atoms, with oxgen becoming bigger component at the altitudes auroras happen--starting about 60 mil. up and going all the way up to 600 mil.
-When the charge particles hit them, they gain energy.
-Other planets have them.

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-Auras are centered on the Earth's magnetic poles, visible in a roughly circular region around them.
-Is a vivid demonstration of the Earth's magnetic field interacting with charged particles from the sunlight.

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Once darkness falls, the Aurora can be visible at any time of the day. It has been seen at 4 p.m and late 6 p.m. The optimum time seems to be around 9:30 p.m to 1 a.m

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Intense Northern Lights area are Alaska, Iceland, and Yukon.

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Lights are observed from late August to mid April. However, form late September to late March, it is dark 6p.m, and one enjoys maximum chance.

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Our sun is 93 million miles away. But its effects extend far beyond its visible surface. Great storms on the sun send gusts of charged solar particles hurtling across space. If Earth is in the path of the particle stream, our planet’s magnetic field and atmosphere react.