The Great Northern Dance

The Aurora Polaris are the greatest lightshows to be exhibited in nature. One doesn’t necessarily have to be an astrophile to be completely astounded by the blanket of light dancing to a mysterious symphony of the night sky. Contrary to what most people know, two kinds of polar lights are found in the northern and southern extremities of Earth. The Northern lights are also called by their scientific name, “Aurora Borealis”, and the Southern lights are called “Aurora Australis”. Due to their geographical placement, the northern lights are more well-known. Since the first humans reached the northern Arctic, they have been stupefied by the northern lights, this fascination has led them to concoct several fascinating myths and folk tales about the causal of the polar lights. These myths come from places far and wide. According to the Cree Indians in North America, the Aurora was part of life’s circle. They believed that the bright ribbons of light were the spirits of their departed friends and relatives, trying to communicate with those they had left behind on earth, by appearing as the northern lights. In some cultures, such as the Swedish, the Aurora was often seen as a portent of good news. They believed that the lights were an indication of a good harvest in the coming year. While others had drastically contradicting beliefs. For example, the poor residents of France and Italy believed the lights to be a bad omen heralding the outbreak of anything from war to plague and death. However, this may be due to the rarity of occurrences of the lights in these regions.

Now, let’s debunk these age-old myths and understand the real scientific explanation for this breathtaking phenomenon. The first known record of a scientific explanation to the phenomenon was given by the famed Italian Astronomer, Galileo Galilei in the early 17th century. He believed that an aurora was caused by the sunlight reflected from the atmosphere.

But the most detailed study of Aurora Polaris was done by Nasa’s satellites, specifically the Themis. Scientists have the first evidence of how the Auroral beads are formed, which in turn results in the formation of Aurora Polaris. The origin of the aurora begins on the surface of the sun. The sun is constantly sending out energy, in different forms such as heat, light and solar wind which is a stream of energised particles. The solar wind carries electrons from the sun’s atmosphere into space. When these particles collide with gases in the atmosphere at an extremely high speed, energy is created. The earth’s magnetic field absorbs this energy and its strong electromagnetic field redirects the energy towards the earth’s poles. Once there, the energy interacts with the gasses in our atmosphere resulting in the mesmerizing light emissions. The red and green colours of aurorae are produced when the charged particles collide with Oxygen in the atmosphere. The Blue and Violet colours of aurorae are produced when the charged particles collide with Nitrogen.

The Northern Lights are seen in places higher in altitude and closer to the North Pole, which is why countries like Norway, Finland and Iceland that are closer to the Arctic Circle get to witness them more frequently. The Northern Lights are great tourist attractions and generate large revenue for these countries by beckoning tourists from all around the world.

The Great Northern Dance has truly captivated and left people awe-inspired for millennia and will continue to do so till the end of time.

- Ayinah