An Aurora is a wave of colours in the sky mostly visible around the North and South Pole. You may refer to it as The Northern or Southern Lights. Near the North Pole, The Aurora is called Aurora Borealis and near the South Pole it is called Aurora Australis. The Aurora got its name in 1619 when Roman astronomer and physicist Galileo Galilei mistakenly thought that the Auroras were due to the reflection of sunlight and named them after the Roman Goddess of morning.

Why does it happen: As you may know, the sun releases solar winds and energy rays on the Earth. These winds and rays are made of electrons and protons. The rays and winds travel at about 150,000,000 mph to reach the Earth’s magnetic field that covers our planet. The magnetic field protects us from most of the winds and rays but some of them slip through. As the make their way through the Earth’s atmosphere they pass the oxygen and nitrogen. The electrons and protons react to the oxygen and nitrogen and make different colours in the sky. If the rays and electrons pass through oxygen, they make shades of green and red in the sky, but if they pass through nitrogen, they make shades of blue and purple. This year is expected to be the best year to see the Aurora as between January-October 2024 scientists expect to see the peak of solar activity in a 11-year cycle called the ‘Solar Maximum’. The sun would experience heightened activity which would emit more streams of the solar winds towards Earth and specially at the poles it would create even more stunning brighter auroras The best places to see the Northern Lights during the solar maximum include Norway, Swedish Lapland, Iceland, Rovaniemi and Finnish Lapland, and Canada. Moreover the best time would be during the winter months, from late September to early April, when there are longer nights and darker skies. Fun Facts – other planets have auroras too!

Vivaan Kohli