Table of Contents
What atmosphere layer are the northern lights?
the thermosphere
The aurora (Northern Lights and Southern Lights) mostly occur in the thermosphere. The thermosphere is a layer of Earth’s atmosphere. The thermosphere is directly above the mesosphere and below the exosphere. It extends from about 90 km (56 miles) to between 500 and 1,000 km (311 to 621 miles) above our planet.
What layer of the atmosphere will the northern lights be in what causes them?
The northern lights or auroras are caused by the solar wind interacting with the ions in the thermosphere. It all starts with the sun spewing out charges and charged particles in a solar wind.
In which layer do auroras eg northern lights occur *?
Thermosphere. Troposphere. In which layer do auroras (e.g. northern lights) occur? Exosphere.
What type of light are the northern lights?
Both the northern lights and the southern lights are polar lights, or aurora polaris, because they occur near Earth’s magnetic poles.
How are northern lights made?
Bottom line: When charged particles from the sun strike atoms in Earth’s atmosphere, they cause electrons in the atoms to move to a higher-energy state. When the electrons drop back to a lower energy state, they release a photon: light. This process creates the beautiful aurora, or northern lights.
What causes the northern lights or the aurora borealis?
The lights we see in the night sky are in actual fact caused by activity on the surface of the Sun. Solar storms on our star’s surface give out huge clouds of electrically charged particles. The aurora’s characteristic wavy patterns and ‘curtains’ of light are caused by the lines of force in the Earth’s magnetic field.
Where do northern lights occur in the atmosphere?
Aurora borealis occur in the Earth’s ionosphere, and result from collisions between energetic electrons (sometimes also protons, and even heavier charged particles) and atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere.
How are northern lights formed?
Auroras occur when charged particles (electrons and protons) collide with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Those collisions produce tiny flashes that fill the sky with colourful light. The shape of Earth’s magnetic field creates two auroral ovals above the North and South Magnetic Poles.
How are Northern Lights formed?
What are Northern Lights made of?
The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, shines above Bear Lake. The lights are the result of solar particles colliding with gases in Earth’s atmosphere.
Where do the northern lights occur in the atmosphere?
What two things make up the Aurora Borealis?