This photo shows the aurora borealis (Northern Lights). The picture was taken in Alaska in 2001.
Click on image for full size
Image courtesy of Jan Curtis.
The Aurora
The aurora is also known as the northern and southern lights. They are called northern lights if they are seen in the northern hemisphere and southern lights if they are seen in the southern hemisphere.
The auroral lights often appear towards the poles of the Earth. So in the northern hemisphere, aurora is seen most often around Alaska, Norway, and the Northwest Territories. But sometimes the aurora can be seen as far south as Michigan, New York and Oregon. Have you ever seen the aurora?
The aurora is formed when particles from the Sun enter the Earth's atmosphere. This causes the atmosphere to light up. We see these lights and call them aurora.
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