What is an aurora?
Auroras are the natural light show of nature. Auroras are only visible near the Arctic and Antarctic Circles. The amazing thing about auroras is that they are created by the Sun even though they are visible at night. This is known as aurora borealis, or northern lights. It is also known as aurora australis or southern lights, in the south.
The Sun releases many particles that enter the Earth’s atmosphere. They react with the atmosphere and create beautiful light displays in the sky. Recently, an astronaut captured photos of auroras from the space station.
Let’s see what they clicked!
NASA astronaut John Cassada recently photographed the aurora from the International Space Station (ISS). This natural light show has become more active recently due to increased solar activity. A gap in the sun's outer atmosphere has increased the flow of charged particles into space.
These particles struck Earth and increased the auroral activity. It even made auroras visible where they would not have been otherwise like in the United Kingdom and California in the United States.
Can we see auroras in India?
Auroras are generally seen near the Earth’s poles. They cannot be seen from India as the country is near the equator. Such countries may see auroras only during extreme solar activity (maybe someday?).
The best places to see aurora borealis are Greenland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, etc. People can see the aurora australis in Tasmania, Australia, and New Zealand.
What did we learn from this article?
We learned that the beauty and wonder of nature never fade. When we take the time to appreciate nature, we must understand the importance of protecting it for future generations.
