Aurora Australis

Have you ever witnessed nature’s light show dancing across the night sky? This colourful display is often referred to, and known as ‘The Southern Lights’. What causes this spectacular illumination Aurora Australis?,

An aurora is caused by a solar flare from the sun. A solar flare is when the sun ejects a cloud of electrons, ions and atoms into space. Then this cloud of particles heads for Earth.

Earth has a magnetic field that covers the whole planet like a blanket and it acts as an invisible shield. The magnetic field  guides particles to the North and South poles following the shape of the magnetic field.

The ions accelerate and collide with other particles. The particles get excited and explode releasing energy in the form of light.

The amazing display is only seen in the night. Down south it is called The Southern Lights and Aurora Australis and up north it is called Northern Lights and Aurora Borealis.