Many people look into the northern sky at night and happen to spot a strange, yet majestical illumination. This natural phenomenon has perplexed and puzzled some of the world's greatest minds for many years. It's known as Aurora Borealis, which means "northern lights" in Latin. Many people dedicated numerous years of their lives trying to unravel this ancient occurrence. Ancient philosophers described it as a fireball ascending to earth from the heavens. After centuries of speculation, it was only in recent history that this phenomenon was solved. Aurora Borealis, or northern lights, depends upon a series of circumstances that have to come together. This series involves the solar wind from the sun, the earth's magnetic field, and the gases of the atmosphere.
             The process that creates the northern lights is very interesting. The solar wind is a continuous stream of ionized gas (that means it will react easily with other molecules) from the sun. This ionized gas is composed of protons, electrons, and helium nuclei. This solar wind emerges from the surface of the sun and travels to earth. Here its particles are pulled to the north and south poles because of the magnetic fields in their areas. As these particles float around the poles, they begin to collide with the gases in the earth's atmosphere, mainly nitrogen and oxygen. As these particles collide, energy in given off in the form of visible light. This light is called "aurora."
             The northern lights have amazed people for many years, and it will keep doing so for many to come. It is an extremely breath taking experience to look up at the northern sky and seeing this spectacular light glimmering. It is impressive to know that the light is actually charged particles from the sun interacting in our atmosphere.
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