Auroras are beautiful displays of light in the sky They are usually seen at night, and especially in the polar regions. They occur in the ionosphere when the solar wind comes into contact with nitrogen and oxygen atoms.
The solar wind is a collection of electrons and protons discharged by the sun. When they come into contact with earth’s magnetic field, they are channeled down the field lines towards the poles. There they come into contact with the nitrogen and oxygen atoms. The nitrogen and oxygen atoms can be ionized by the solar wind. Conversely the atoms can also return to a ground state after being excited. Both of these mechanisms can result in photons being discharged which we see as light.
Astronaut Soichi Noguchi has taken yet another breathtaking picture from the International Space Station. He has taken a picture of the International Space Station as it flies through at Aurora at 28,000 kilometers per hour.
