Curious facts about the northern lights

Seeing the northern lights is one of the best experiences we can live, as they are inexplicable and impressive sensations. Those who have lived this moment of different colors assure that it is a privilege to witness, especially for people who do not live in the countries where this phenomenon can be witnessed, such as: Norway, Iceland, Finland, Greenland, Canada, Alaska and Russia; It should be noted that in some of these countries you can witness the northern lights from October to March, while in others they can be seen from August.

When the northern lights appear, they flash beautiful shades of purple, blue, red and pink, although the color that stands out the most is green, because it is produced by oxygen in the lower layers of the atmosphere, while red is because there is oxygen at a higher altitude and blue for nitrogen. They can usually be seen between 10 pm and 2 am

How do the Northern Lights occur?

Many of us have been curious about how the aurora borealis is produced and its creation is generated at the moment when the particles emitted by the Sun collide with the Earth's magnetic field, dragging through the magnetosphere towards the poles. During the trip they collide with nitrogen and oxygen atoms, generating flashes of light.

In itself, the aurora borealis generates solar activity that explains the emission of particles and sunspots, this leaves the Sun and travels through the solar wind. When solar activity increases, this star avoids more particles than normal, producing the solar storm. During this, displays of the northern lights created by large groups of solar particles are observed.

After learning about how this phenomenon occurs, doubts have surely arisen, so below we will show you some curious facts about the northern lights that will leave you fascinated.

There are northern lights on other planets

The Voyager 1 and 2 spacecraft, who were in charge of showing the first images of the auroras that appear on Saturn and Jupiter, as well as on Uranus and Neptune. In addition, according to the astronauts, the northern lights that appear on these planets are more powerful than on Earth, because the magnetic fields are stronger.

They can be seen from space

A curious fact about the northern lights is that they can be seen from space , so those who travel to space during the season that the northern lights can be seen, in addition to living a unique experience, manage to see a spectacular image in its maximum splendor. . Even the International Space Station are the ones that have given fascinating photographs of this spectacle.

The northern lights emit sound

For many years, people thought that relatives who had passed away came down at certain times of the year to give messages to their loved ones through difficult-to-understand whispers. Some time later, scientists discovered that the northern lights emit sound because the solar winds collide with the atmosphere with great force, generating explosions, but on Earth some people can hear them as whispers.

They look better through a camera

Although it is almost impossible to believe, the northern lights are better seen through a camera than through the human eye, this is because a red light is emitted that is at the limit of the retina of the human eye that they are capable of detecting. , but in low tones, while the camera lens is more sensitive to detect them, managing to capture special photographs.

They have been seen for more than 4000 years

According to a Chinese text, the northern lights have been seen for more than 4,000 years, dating back to 2600 BC The book describes how Fu-Pao, the mother of the Yellow Empire of Shuan-Yuan, saw lights moving around the star Su, belonging to the constellation Bei-Dou. And from that time the Vikings and in the Old Testament of the Bible the northern lights have been mentioned.