Aurora

space · light show · weather

Sun-powered glow. Auroras happen when charged particles from the Sun crash into atoms high in Earth's atmosphere, making them light up.

Colorful collisions. Oxygen and nitrogen gases give off different colors, painting the sky green, red, and purple.

Two names. In the north they're called the northern lights (aurora borealis), and in the south they're the southern lights (aurora australis).

Shape-shifters. Auroras dance as curtains, rays, spirals, and flickers that can spread across the whole sky.