10 Amazing Things You Didn't Know About the Northern Lights

The polar (northern) lights are a natural phenomenon of incredible beauty, a phenomenon that has excited the minds of mankind for centuries. Indeed, what could be more beautiful than the play of color and light surrounded by stars? But how much do we know about this beauty?

And today we have collected ten interesting facts about this amazing miracle.

From space, the northern lights are visible even better, so much so that it seems as if you can touch them. The International Space Station constantly takes pictures of the aurora from space.

Scientists can predict many cosmic phenomena, such as meteor showers. The Northern Lights are difficult to predict because it is difficult to know the shape of the magnetic field in a coronal mass ejection. Scientists cannot pinpoint the direction of the aurora until it begins.

We are accustomed to the term “northern lights,” but this does not mean that this phenomenon can only be observed in the north. In the south there is also a spectacular natural phenomenon, and it is called the southern aurora.

The intensity and variety of colors of the northern lights is reflected by solar activity. Her cycle is 11 years. The last time scientists recorded extraordinary solar activity was in 2013, so 2024 will be a real show.

We are accustomed to the fact that the colors of the rainbow are unchanged. However, when it comes to the northern lights, we cannot say exactly what colors we will see. The colors depend on what atmospheric gases collide. For example, oxygen produces green, nitrogen produces blue or reddish, and helium produces something between blue and violet.

Like other natural phenomena, the northern lights have attracted the attention of many famous minds throughout history. And who wouldn’t be interested in such amazing and mysterious beauty? Aristotle, Seneca, Descartes, Tycho Brahe and Benjamin Franklin tried to learn all the secrets of the northern lights.

The Italian astronomer, physicist, engineer and philosopher Galileo Galilei had, as you know, many talents. He has been called the father of science, the father of modern physics, and significantly influenced the scientific world of the Renaissance. So it is not surprising that it was he who gave the name to the natural phenomenon of the northern lights. However, Pierre Gassendi at the same time called this phenomenon the same way.

The Northern Lights are mesmerizing because they seem so close. It appears to be floating right above your head. But this is just an optical illusion. In fact, all the action takes place approximately one hundred kilometers above ground level, and red colors appear at a distance of 320 kilometers.

Before science began to develop, people explained natural phenomena differently. The Maori tribe in New Zealand and many people in Northern Europe and North America believed that the northern lights were the reflection of torches and bonfires. The Menominee Indians of Wisconsin believed that the glow showed where giants were, who were the ghosts of hunters and fishermen. The Inuit in Alaska believed that the lights were the souls of animals and people.

The Northern Lights are not at all a feature of our planet. It is also found on other planets and is also located near their magnetic poles. Astronomers have captured the lights on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.