Northern Lights: Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis have appeared in the sky and illuminated the Earth multiple times in the year 2024. Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights are said to be a rare phenomenon in which skywatchers travel long distances with hopes that they might witness the magical sky. However, people with only good luck or well-versed scientists can watch it. In 2024, it has been witnessed that Aurora Borealis or Northern Lights. For instance, recently northern lights illuminated the sky in Haldimand County, near Caledonia, Ontario, Canada. Not only this, Aurora lit up the sky in the Leh and Ladakh areas of India. Similar spectacles were witnessed in the UK, USA, Spain, and other parts of the world. Now, the question arises what are Northern Lights and why it becoming a common spectacle?
What are the Northern Lights?
Northern Lights occur when solar winds are stronger than normal. During this time, charged particles emitted from sunlight collide with gases like oxygen and nitrogen while entering the Earth's atmosphere. People see these particles in the sky as yellow, green, blue, red, or orange light. Usually, Northern Lights occur at an altitude of 88-500km from the Earth.
You can best experience the Northern Lights in the northern parts of Scandinavia, Alaska, northern Canada, northern Russia, Greenland, and Iceland. The Northern Lights are produced due to charged particles like electrons and protons colliding with gas particles in the upper atmosphere of the Earth. The Earth's magnetic field pushes these charged particles towards the poles, which is why the Northern Lights are seen only at the North and South Poles.
The scientific name of this phenomenon is Aurora Borealis. In the Southern Hemisphere, it is named Aurora Australis. According to 'Visit Svalbard', at least 4,580 women or girls in Norway are named Aurora.
Norwegian scientist Christian Birkeland is called the father of the Northern Lights. Because he was the first person to talk about this phenomenon. He started describing this phenomenon around the year 1900. Birkeland was nominated for the Nobel Prize 7 times, but he never won it.
Why Northern Lights are becoming common?
As per BBC, Northern Lights have become a common spectacle, especially in the past few months or this year is due to the sun being at what astronomers call the “maximum” of its 11-year solar cycle.
In layman's language, it means that roughly every 11 years, at the peak of this cycle, the sun’s magnetic poles flip, and the sun transitions from sluggish to active and stormy. On Earth, that will be like if the North and South Poles swapped places every decade. The current 11-year cycle, the 25th since records began in 1755, started in 2019 and is expected to peak next year. Hence, the conditions that resulted in the recent activity will be in place for many months to come.