The Aurora Australis

What causes the Aurora Australis

By Rome

Have you ever witnessed nature’s light show dancing across the night sky? This colourful display is often referred to and known as ‘The Southern Lights’.

At first a solar flare comes from the Sun with high energy particles. The sun is always active so it can eject a lot of clouds with electrons, ions and atoms. There is a constant flow of ions in each cloud.

The Earth has a magnetic field protecting our atmosphere. The magnetic field acts as an invisible shield around Earth. The particles from a solar flare follow the shape of the magnetic field. The magnetic field directs the ions to both the North and South Poles.

The ions accelerate to the North and South Poles. The ions will collide with other particles. Once the ions have reached the North or South Pole, all the ions will release energy in the form of colorful lights. This is called the Aurora Australis.

This is how the Southern Lights are formed. It doesn't happen all the time so you have to keep an eye out for it.

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