A true natural wonder: where can you witness the Northern Lights?

The northern lights are caused by solar wind—charged particles emitted by the Sun's uppermost, hottest layer of atmosphere (the solar corona). When this wind reaches Earth's ionosphere, it creates the aurora. In the Northern Hemisphere, this phenomenon is referred to as the northern lights, while in the Southern Hemisphere, it is called the southern lights (for example, this phenomenon can be observed in Australia). The northern lights become particularly vivid during solar flares when a vast amount of charged particles is released. The last significant solar activity was recorded in 2014, and according to predictions by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), it is expected to occur again around July 2025.

Under the influence of Earth's magnetic field, the solar wind is deflected towards the planet's poles. When it interacts with the chemical substances in the atmosphere, it begins to release energy and fluoresce. Each type of atom or molecule emits its unique light, which is why we see bright shimmering spots in the sky—nitrogen molecules are responsible for the red hue, while oxygen molecules account for the green.

Despite the fact that science knows quite a bit about the northern lights, there are still gaps in the overall picture. For example, researchers did not fully understand how the charged particles of solar wind accelerate to their extraordinary speeds (45 million miles per hour). This question remained open until June 2021 when a scientific paper explaining this phenomenon was published in the journal Nature Communications. It turned out that the reason lies in a special type of waves—Alfvén waves. These are low-frequency but powerful oscillations that occur in plasma—charged particles essentially "travel" along these waves, accelerating rapidly.

Researchers are also studying the northern lights directly at the Sun. In 2018, NASA sent the Solar Parker probe to it. In December 2021, it "touched" the solar corona for the first time. The spacecraft measured magnetic fields and collected particle samples.

Yes, auroras can also occur on other planets—an atmosphere and magnetic field are necessary for this. For example, the gas giants of the Solar System—Saturn and Jupiter—have strong magnetic fields, so auroras periodically appear in their atmospheres. Furthermore, such phenomena on Jupiter are about 20,000 times brighter than on Earth. This is because they are caused not only by charged particles emitted by the Sun but also by particles originating from the moon Io.

Moreover, such phenomena have been observed on both Venus and Mars, which have very weak magnetic fields. In 2021, the UAE's interplanetary mission "Al-Amal" was able to photograph the northern lights on Mars.

Experiencing the northern lights firsthand is a must for both astronomy enthusiasts and travelers. Fortunately, they occur frequently, though they are not visible everywhere. You need to be in the right place at the right time.

According to the Tromsø Geophysical Observatory in Norway, any location within a 2500-kilometer radius of the North Pole is suitable for observing the northern lights. This is where auroras most commonly occur, although this phenomenon can extend further south during particularly strong solar storms.

To get a better view of the northern lights, you should be as far away from city lights as possible, so light pollution does not interfere with the observation. The best locations for this are the cities of Fairbanks (Alaska, USA), Yellowknife (Canada), Rovaniemi (Finland), the Svalbard archipelago, and Abisko National Park (Sweden). In Russia, the northern lights can be clearly seen in Murmansk, Arkhangelsk, Vorkuta, and the northern cities of Karelia.

The best time for observing the northern lights is from September to April when the sky becomes dark enough. Keep in mind that the northern lights are most visible from 10 PM to 3 AM.

To catch the aurora, monitor solar activity, choose a clear day without precipitation, and head as far north as possible. Also, consider that visibility may be affected by light pollution from the Moon if it is in the full moon phase.