COLORS IN THE NIGHT SKY: THE AURORA http ......colors in the sky. Red, pink, green, and white seem to dance across the dark sky. They are beautiful. Photo courtesy of Rhys Boulton,

COLORS IN THE NIGHT SKY: THE AURORA COLORS IN THE NIGHT SKY: THE AURORA

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Long ago, people told stories about the colors they saw. They tried to explain why the colors were there. Some people were afraid of the colors. They thought that something terrible would happen. Other people thought the colors were a path to heaven.

Today, scientists study the Earth and the Sun. They want to learn about the aurora and why it happens.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Jessica taught at the elementary level (grades 4-6) and middle school (grades 5-8 math and science) in Memphis, TN and Anchorage, AK. Her work with Beyond Penguins and Polar Bears involves creating and managing content for the magazine and blog.

Jessica Fries-GaitherElementary Resource Specialist, The Ohio State University

COLORS IN THE NIGHT SKY: THE AURORABY JESSICA FRIES-GAITHER

http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org

MAY 2008

Issue 3: Polar Patterns: Day, Night, and Seasons (May 2008)Copyright May 2008 – The Ohio State University

Supported by the National Science

Foundation

Licensed Under a Creative Commons license.

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Find this story and others at:http://beyondpenguins.nsdl.org/information.php?topic=stories

Flesch - Kincaid RL = 3.5

Sun’s surface. Photo courtesy of NASA.



These colorful lights are called the aurora. You might have heard another name for them. The aurora is called the northern lights in the Arctic. In Antarctica, it is called the southern lights.

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Maybe someday you will travel to the Arctic or Antarctica. You might see the beautiful colors in the night sky. Or maybe you will study the aurora yourself!

Winter is very dark there. The sun does not rise very high in the sky. And in some places, it does not rise at all! Days are short, and nights are long.

Scientists also know that the sun is very hot. It is so hot that that tiny particles fly off its surface. This is called the solar wind.

Antarctica. Photo courtesy of elisfanclub, Flickr. Winter icon courtesy of iconfinder.com

Solar Wind. Illustration courtesy of Flickr.

Northern Lights. Photo courtesy of NASA.



Have you heard of the Arctic? What about Antarctica? They are places near the top and bottom of the world.

They know that the Earth is like a giant magnet. It has a north pole and a south pole, just like a bar magnet! Since Earth is like a magnet, it also has a magnetic field.

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Why do we see these beautiful colors?

aurora - colorful patterns of light that can been seen in the night sky.

solar wind - tiny particles given off by the sun.

GLOSSARY

Photo courtesy of Rhys Boulton, U.S. Antarctic Program, National Science Foundation. Penguin icon courtesy of iconfinder.com.

Earth’s magnetic field. Illustration courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.

Polar Regions Map. Illustration courtesy of Wikimaedia Commons.

North Pole

South Pole

The solar wind travels through space to Earth. When it hits Earth’s magnetic field, it creates colorful patterns of light.

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Scientists have learned a lot about the aurora. But they still have many questions.

Some nights, you can see colors in the sky. Red, pink, green, and white seem to dance across the dark sky. They are beautiful.

Photo courtesy of Rhys Boulton, U.S. Antarctic Program, National

Science Foundation.

Aurora australis captured by NASA’s Image Satelllite. Photo courtesy of NASA.

The Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, shines above Bear Lake. Photo courtesy of Joshua Strang, U.S. Air Force, Wikimedia Commons.

Aurora borealis, taken on board the International Space Station. Photo courtesy of NASA. Icon courtesy of iconfinder.com

Documents

COLORS IN THE NIGHT SKY: THE AURORA http ......colors in the sky. Red, pink, green, and white seem to dance across the dark sky. They are beautiful. Photo courtesy of Rhys Boulton,