Staring at these lights, called auroras, I was reminded that Earth is ... in space.
Take a second to think about it: Sure, you might be sitting in a chair right now, but that chair is located on a spinning planet that's flying through space.
And when you're flying through space, cool things are just gonna happen.
Things like auroras.
What even are you, you beautiful nighttime rainbows?
Here's a refresher from NASA:
"The dancing lights of the aurora provide spectacular views on the ground, but also capture the imagination of scientists who study incoming energy and particles from the sun. Aurora are one effect of such energetic particles, which can speed out from the sun both in a steady stream called the solar wind and due to giant eruptions known as coronal mass ejections or CMEs. After a trip toward Earth that can last two to three days, the solar particles and magnetic fields cause the release of particles already trapped near Earth, which in turn trigger reactions in the upper atmosphere in which oxygen and nitrogen molecules release photons of light. The result: the Northern and Southern lights."
Yeah. So, what NASA means is...
These lights, which are beautifully named auroras after the Roman goddess of the dawn, happen when particles from space (mostly teeny tiny electrons and protons) fly into Earth's atmosphere, creating nuclear reactions that result in mind-blowing light shows.
Auroras take some extra magic to happen.
Electrons and protons can't just fly into any part of Earth's atmosphere to make them. The atmosphere must be electromagnetically charged and therefore have charged particles in it!
Because our planet's northern and southern poles are the most electromagnetically charged parts of the atmosphere, that's where auroras are most common.
Northern auroras are called aurora borealis, and southern auroras are called aurora australis.
And that's what the Northern Lights are:
You guys: Earth and the power and beauty of science.