Without questions, this is the most beautiful heavenly phenomenon but, unfortunately, rarely occurs. It can take the form of wave of light rolling from the horizon to the zenith, or can appear as archers of color over the horizon with many individual structures, such as rays penetrating in all directions. Red colors are present throughout but, in higher latitudes, greens and yellows dominant, with flickering tins of blue and silver. The region may be seen most often is in Europe near the Artic Circle ( Iceland, northern Norway, Lapland). In these far northern latitudes, the Aurora on a average 100 nights a year, whereas in northern Scotland the frequency drops to thirty , southern England five, southern Germany one, and the southern Italy the northern lights are seen once in ten years. The intensity is extremely variable. It can be strong enough to light the heavens as brightly as a full moon and to make a reading a newspaper possible.

The aurora is caused by charged particles from interacting with our atmosphere. From the sun and its tenuous atmosphere comes a continuous discharge of particles. This discharge happens because, at extremely high temperature, gases become stripped of electrons by violent collisions and acquire enough speed to escape the gravitational pull of the sun. As these charged particles (ions and electrons) travel through space, they are know as the solar wind. When the solar wind moves close enough to the earth, it interacts with the earth's magnetic field, disturbing it. This disturbance causes energetic solar wind particles to enter the upper atmosphere, where they collide with atmospheric gases. These gases then become excited and emit visible radiation (light), which the sky to glow like a neon light, thus producing the aurora.

The level of the atmosphere at which the Northern light occur, is the ionosphere. Its base is about 60km from the surface on the earth, its upper limit 2000km and and it reaches the outer layers of the atmosphere. At 50km altitude, air pressure is a thousandth of its average at ground level, about one milibar. At this point, it should be noted that there is no form of weather in this very thin atmosphere. Weather events of daily significance are confined to the lower atmosphere at a maximum height of 15km. Despite this, scientists argue that this stream of solar particles cannot be ignored in terms of possible effects on weather. Relationships have been suggested between the stream of particles the existence of which is made know by the Northern lights, and the development of extensive depressions over the Pacific Ocean.