How is aurora borealis different from aurora australis

The lights are seen above the magnetic poles of the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known as 'Aurora borealis' in the north and 'Aurora australis' in the south.. Auroral displays appear in many colours although pale green and pink are the most common. Shades of red, yellow, green, blue, and violet have been reported. The lights appear in many forms from patches or scattered clouds of light to streamers, arcs, rippling curtains or shooting rays that light up the sky with an eerie glow.

The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth.

Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora. The connection between the Northern Lights and sunspot activity has been suspected since about Health Long-Term Care. For Teachers. NewsHour Shop. About Feedback Funders Support Jobs. Close Menu. Email Address Subscribe. What do you think? Leave a respectful comment. Close Comment Window. Yes Not now. The color of the light released depends on the kind of gas molecules, their electrical state at the time of collision, and the type of the solar wind particles they collide with.

Oxygen atoms emit yellow-green or red colored light, while nitrogen atoms generate blue or purplish-red colored light. Auroral shapes tend to fall in six categories — curtains , bands , veils , coronas , patches , and rays. If one were to look from space, they would see a ring-shaped aurora spanning around miles kms around both poles.

In the south, auroras can sometimes be seen from southern Australia, New Zealand, and Chile. This can expand the region around the poles where auroral activity can be observed from, increasing the chances of seeing auroras at lower latitudes. On very rare occasions, auroral displays can be observed from locations close to the Equator. For instance, in , because of a very strong geomagnetic storm, people in Singapore were able to observe auroral displays.

Chemistry and the Real World. Search for:. Aurora Borealis and the Aurora Australis. Learning Objective Recall how and why the aurora forms. Key Points An aurora is a natural light display in the sky, particularly in the high-latitude arctic and antarctic regions, that is caused by the collision of energetic charged particles with atoms in the high-altitude atmosphere. The solar wind coming from the sun is the origin of the charged protons and electrons that excite oxygen and nitrogen and cause auroras.

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