Auroras
by: Lacy Chappell
Forming of an Aurora
There are two types of Auroras; Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) and Aurora Australis (Southern Lights). The sun is at and average of 27 million degrees and when is boils particles leave the sun and when they come into Earth's atmosphere, that is the beginning of any Aurora, it also starts out as an "arch of light" as they call it. Then when it enters Earth's atmosphere and the wind picks up on it, that is when you begin to see it. Auroras have been forming on Earth ever since the vikings, the vikings always called them the "Lights of the winter night".
Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis
The northern and southern lights as you can figure are best visible in different parts of the world. Like in the names the northern lights or Aurora Borealis are most visible if you are in the northern part of the world, and over the north pole. The southern lights or Aurora Australis are most visible on if you're on the southern part of the world and over the south pole. The auroras have specific colors that you will often see in the light shows, those are pink, green, yellow, blue, violet and sometimes orange and white.
The Night of The Crimson Sky
On March 12 one of the biggest Aurora Borealis in history was seen. According to Dan Bortolotti's book Auroras-Fire in the Sky it was one of the "most dramatic celestial events in modern history. It started at 9am on March 12th, and it started off a bright green. By 10pm it was a bright red. Overnight the conditions were about as cold as they would be on a winter night. Now on March 13, at 1:20 am the sky was filled with blue, purple, some red, and a little bit of yellow. At about 2:45 on March 13 the Aurora had ended, leaving over 6 million people with out power for a few hours.
Night of the Northern Lights
Sources
- "The Auroras." The New Book of Popular Science. Danbury, CT: Grolier, 2006. 155-58. Print.
- Bortolotti, Dan, and Yuichi Takasaka. "Night of the Crimson Sky." Auroras: Fire in the Sky. Richmond Hill, Ont.: Firefly, 2011. 6-8. Print.
- Staff, SPACE.com. "Aurora Borealis: What Causes the Northern Lights & Where to See Them | Space.com." Purch, 2015. Web. 04 Dec. 2015.
- "Your Pics: 'Perfect Weekend' for Aurora Australis." ABC News. N.p., 16 Aug. 2015. Web. 04 Dec. 2015.
- https://www.pinterest.com/stardustagain/aurora-borealis/
- https://500px.com/photo/61845907/the-aurora-dances-over-sami-country-by-crimson-sky-productions-jesse-beaman
- http://michaelquinton.com/blog/?tag=aurora-borealis