Northern Lights
Polar lights (Polar Aurora); are natural illuminations seen in the sky in polar regions, which occur as a result of the interaction between charged particles emitted from the Sun into space due to solar flares and the Earth's magnetic field, which acts as a protective shield around the planet. The aurora forms in the upper layers of the atmosphere, in the ionosphere region, generally at altitudes of 80–100 km.
Some Historical Information About Polar Lights:
- Galileo Galilei was the first to use the name Aurora Borealis and described the visible lights in 1619.
- There are depictions of Polar Lights in caves drawn by the Cro-Magnon race (early Homo sapiens) who lived around 30,000 BC.
- In the past, people regarded these illuminations as signs from God in the Middle Ages.
- Polar lights occur in both the northern and southern hemispheres. The lights that occur in the north are called “Northern Lights”, while those that occur in the southern hemisphere are called “Southern Lights”.
