Explanation of aurora phenomenon

The light of aurora is generated by the interaction between solar particles and the Earth's atmosphere.

Strip of light winding in the sky.(Photo: Twitter)

People living in high latitudes can witness aurora phenomenon, characterized by colorful light appearing in the night sky. In this phenomenon, bright bands continuously move and change. They are mostly green, sometimes with pink, red, purple and white.

The Sun lies about 150 million kilometers from Earth. Giant solar storms form a stream of energetic particles that fly in space. If the Earth is on the path of this particle stream, charged particles will "attack" the Earth's atmosphere.

The electrons in the atoms of the atmosphere will move up to orbits that carry higher energy, farther away from the atomic nucleus. When an electron moves back into orbit with a lower energy level, it releases a light particle or photon. According to scientists, the process of aurora phenomenon is similar to what happens in neon bulbs, but is much larger.

The aurora appears in an arc or spiral, following the Earth's magnetic field. Researchers say that different gases in the Earth's atmosphere create a brilliant color of aurora. For example, oxygen forms green, nitrogen forms blue or red.