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Aurora- The Polar Lights.

Magical Light of Nature in the polar region of earth? Yes aurora is the display of natural light in the sky of the earth specially seen in the polar regions or high- latitude regions , around the Arctic and Antarctic area.

The term ‘aurora’ is derived from the name of the Roman Goddess of the dawn, Aurora .

In which zone or band these auroras generally occur is called ‘ Auroral Zone‘. A region which currently displays aurora is called ‘ Auroral oval‘. These are seen most clearly at night.

There are several forms of Auroras , like –

In northern latitudes this aurora is called ‘Aurora Borealis‘ or ‘ Northern Lights‘ and in southern latitudes it is called ‘ Aurora Australis‘ or ‘ Southern Lights‘ .

i. A mild glow, near the horizon.

ii. Patches or surfaces looked like clouds.

iii. Arcs curve across the sky.

iv. Light and dark stripes of rays across arcs, reaching upwards by various amounts.

v. Coronas cover much portion of the sky.

Some auroras also described as curtains by Brekke .

Auroras can be of different colors like red, green, blue, ultraviolet, infrared, yellow and pink.

The main cause of aurora is disturbances created in the magnetosphere by solar wind. For this reason charged particles like electrons and protons precipitate into the ionosphere or thermosphere or exosphere. Then the ionization and excitation of atmospheric elements of these layers emit light of varying colors and complexities, which create auroras in the sky of earth near the polar regions.