What Are the Northern Lights?
Join Owlo and Koko as they explore the magic of the Northern Lights and learn about this natural wonder together!
About this story
Join Owlo and Koko as they explore the magic of the Northern Lights and learn about this natural wonder together!
What you'll learn
- Understand what the Northern Lights are
- Learn the scientific name: Aurora Borealis
- Discover the origins of the name Aurora
Owlo, Owlo! I have to tell you something so exciting. My aunt sent us a photo last night from way up north!
Oh, how wonderful! What was in the photo, Koko?
The whole sky was glowing! There were green and purple swirls everywhere. It looked like the sky was painted by magic.
I think I know exactly what your aunt saw. Those glowing colors in the sky have a very special name.
What are they called? And why does the sky do that?
They are called the Northern Lights, Koko. Scientists call them the Aurora Borealis.
Aurora Borealis. That sounds like a fancy princess name.
It does, doesn't it? The name actually comes from ancient languages. Aurora was the name for the goddess of dawn.
So where do they come from? Is it really magic?
Not magic, but something just as amazing. Let me show you something in the science lab. I have just the right book for this.
Here we go. This book has a wonderful diagram of the sun and the Earth. Come take a look.
Okay, I see the sun and then the Earth. And there are little arrows going from the sun toward us.
Those arrows represent something called solar wind. The sun is always sending tiny, invisible particles flying through space.
Particles? What are particles?
Particles are incredibly tiny pieces of matter, much too small to see. Think of them like invisible specks of energy flying through space.
So the sun is shooting tiny invisible specks at us all the time? That sounds a little scary.
It would be, except the Earth has a brilliant shield protecting us. It is called the magnetic field.
Like a force field? Like in cartoons?
Exactly like that! The magnetic field wraps around our whole planet. It pushes most of those solar particles away.
So what makes the lights? Does the shield glow?
Very close! Some particles slip through near the North and South Poles, where the shield is a little thinner.
And then what happens to them?
When those particles meet the gases high up in our atmosphere, they get excited and release energy as light.
Scientists actually use the word excited, just like how you get excited and full of energy before an adventure.
So the sky particles are having a little party up there and the lights are what we see from the party!
That is genuinely one of the best descriptions I have ever heard. And different gases make different colors.
Oh! Is that why my aunt's photo had green AND purple?
Precisely. Oxygen gas makes green and sometimes red. Nitrogen gas makes blue and purple.
I want to see them for real one day. Where do you have to go?
You need to travel somewhere very far north, like Norway, Iceland, or Canada. You also need a clear, dark sky.
Can you see them in the daytime?
Unfortunately not. The lights are always there, but the sun is so bright during the day that it hides them completely.
That is like how you can't see stars in the daytime either. They are hiding but they are still there.
What a perfect connection, Koko. You are thinking like a real scientist today. Now, can you tell me what you learned?
Okay! The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, happen when tiny particles from the sun sneak past Earth's magnetic force field near the poles.
Then they bump into gases in the sky and make them glow in different colors. Green, purple, blue, and sometimes red!
And you can only see them at night, in really dark places far up north. Also, the sky is basically throwing a party and we get to watch.
That is a perfect summary, Koko. Your aunt's photo started quite the adventure today.
Next time I want to learn about the Southern Lights too. And maybe about the sun and solar wind. There is so much more to find out!
