CHAPTER 1 LIGHTS IN THE SKY It is a cold winter night Stars shine in the clear sky Suddenly lights flash overhead Greens blues and pinks appear high above the trees Waves of color ripple and glow This amazing display is the northern lights The northern lights are caused by charged particles that come from the sun The northern lights are also called the aurora borealis 5
The sun constantly sends out streams of tiny particles into space If these particles reach Earth they collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere These collisions cause colorful lights to appear in the sky The lights are called auroras When auroras occur in the far north they are known as the northern lights Each year thousands of people travel north to see the lights The best views are in places within the auroral ovals Earth has two of these ovals They are shaped like large doughnuts One oval surrounds the north magnetic pole The northern lights appear in this area The other oval surrounds the south magnetic pole The 6
location of Earth’s magnetic poles shifts slowly over time Currently the north magnetic pole is northwest of Greenland A TYPICAL AURORAL OVAL A TYPICAL AURORAL OVAL A TYPICAL AURORAL OVAL ALASKA UNITED STATES C A N A D A I A S S U R GREENLAND NORWAY FINLAND ICELAND SWEDEN 7
