Auroras are luminous atmospheric phenomena in the night sky that occur most frequently in high latitudes of both hemispheres. They are categorized specifically according to their location. Auroras in the Northern Hemisphere are called the northern lights (aurora borealis), and in the Southern Hemisphere, auroras are called the southern lights (aurora australis).

Auroras are caused by the sun, but they are not sunlight. In addition to light, the sun also sends out electrically charged particles stream of electrons and protons, called the solar wind. This stream of particles travels from the sun towards the Earth at high speed.

The earth is surrounded by a magnetic field, consisting of north and south magnetic poles. These magnetic poles are not the same as the North and South poles. As the charged particles in the solar wind penetrate the earth’s magnetosphere and enter the lower Van Allen radiation belt, the earth magnetic field deflects it to the magnetic poles. Then they collide with gas molecules, mostly oxygen and nitrogen, in the atmosphere. These collisions cause them to emit visible light at various wavelengths, creating the colors of the aurora.