The aurora australis, or southern lights, is a light show visible in Antarctica during winter caused by charged particles colliding with molecules in the upper atmosphere. It produces red, green, and blue light and can be seen every two to three hours during high solar activity levels.
The aurora australis is a light show that can be seen in the night sky over Antarctica during winter. It is also referred to as the Northern Lights. In the Northern Hemisphere, this same phenomenon is referred to as the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. The Northern Lights can be seen in the Arctic Circle, northern Canada, Alaska, Russia and Scandinavia.
Auroras are named after the Roman god of dawn, Aurora, which is the Latin word for dawn. Australis is the Latin word for south, while borealis is the Greek word for north wind. Aurora australis literally means dawn, or light, of the south. Both auroras have similar properties and differ only in where they can be viewed.
An aurora is the bands of colored lights that can be seen in the sky. Light is caused by charged particles, electrons and protons, colliding with other molecules in the upper atmosphere around the Earth. In particular, they collide with nitrogen and oxygen. Part of the energy that results from these collisions is emitted as light or photons.
Red, green, and sometimes blue light is seen during the southern lights. When charged particles collide with oxygen, a green-yellow or deep red light is produced. Yellow-green is the more common of the two. Collisions with nitrogen cause blue light to appear as part of the aurora.
Charged particles originate from the Sun and are called the solar wind. Due to the continuous reactions taking place on the Sun, these particles are constantly being released and leaving the Sun at speeds between 300 and 1,000 kilometers per second, or about one million miles per hour. At these speeds, the particles can reach Earth in a couple of days.
Earth’s magnetic field deflects these particles as they reach the upper atmosphere. Charged particles are bound by magnetic field lines and travel around the Earth. The electrons and protons travel along the field lines towards the north and south magnetic poles of the Earth. At the poles, the magnetic field is closer to the Earth’s surface, allowing charged particles to interact with other molecules in the atmosphere.
The best time to see an aurora is during a high level of activity on the sun. The higher the activity levels, the more charged particles are released and sent towards the Earth. The aurora australis can only be seen between March and September, as during the rest of the year the South Pole has 24-hour sunlight. When the aurora australis is visible, it usually lasts 15 minutes to half an hour. It can continue to appear every two to three hours.
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