The Aurora Polaris

The Polar Lights- Aurora Polaris

About the Aurora Polaris 

The polar lights, known as aurora borealis in the north and aurora australis in the south, are impressive projections of color that swirl throughout the sky above the magnetic poles in the north and south hemispheres. Their most common color is green, but they have also been seen to be red, yellow, green, blue, and violet. They can appear in many forms such as patches, streams, arcs, rays, and other abstract shapes. The majesty of these lights has caused many cultures from all around the world to speculate about what they could mean or symbolize; could they be the doings of gods and spirits or could they simply be attributed to the science of the atmosphere?

The Magic Behind the Lights

There was a multitude of ideas from all around the world that attempted to explain the magnificent sight of the polar lights from the magical perspective before science was able to, but we will focus on a select few stories from North America. Some believed them to be guides who lit the way for spirits who just crossed into the afterlife. Others thought that the lights were the spirits of peoples’ loved ones who were attempting to communicate with them. The Algonquin’s believed that the auroras came from a fire that their creator, Nanahbozho, made in order to comfort his people with his presence. There were many other beliefs and a lot of them had to do with spirits and the afterlife. This was most likely because spirits, as well as the polar lights, were filled with great mystery, so people must have connected the two together in an attempt to explain their beliefs for life after death.

The Science Behind the Lights

 As science developed, more information was able to be discovered about the auroras. The scientific explanation is that charged particles from the sun are thrown from the sun and blown towards the Earth, sometimes making their way through Earth’s magnetic field and into the atmosphere. There, they collide with atoms in the air. This causes the electrons in the atoms to move to higher-energy orbits and then jump back down into their normal orbits, releasing energy in the form of light. The different colors are a product of the collisions of the sun’s charged particles with different types of atoms at different altitudes. For example, yellowish-green auroras come from collisions with oxygen molecules 60 miles above the Earth, all-red auroras are produced by collisions with oxygen molecules up to 200 miles above the Earth, and blue auroras are caused by collisions with nitrogen atoms less than 60 miles above the Earth. Although their beauty seems too extravagant to not involve a higher power, this is the science that creates the majestic dancing colors in the sky that have tugged at the imaginations of people all around the world.

Sources

• http://earthsky.org/earth/what-causes-the-aurora-borealis-or-northern-lights
• https://giphy.com/gifs/sky-aurora-gif-13B9qUA69uRlJK?utm_source=media-link&utm_medium=landing&utm_campaign=Media%20Links&utm_term
• https://www.northernlightscentre.ca/northernlights.html
• https://www.theaurorazone.com/about-the-aurora/aurora-legends
• https://www.theaurorazone.com/about-the-aurora/the-science-of-the-northern-lights/the-northern-lights-colours
• https://www.timeanddate.com/astronomy/northern-southern-lights.html
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fVsONlc3OUY