The Northern Lights

Arctic Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland, 2016-2019 The aurora is not just a pretty sight - it is also a protective mechanism that makes life on Earth possible, which I think makes it even more beautiful. It is the mechanism by which Earth's magnetic field gets rid of excess energy that reaches us from the sun. Charged solar particles bombard Earth at all angles. They are then deflected towards the North and South poles by Earth's magnetic field. These solar particles interact with the atmosphere above the poles causing the energy to be dissipated in the form of auroral light. Recent scientific research confirmed that auroral events also produce sound.