Dark and clear nights, preferably with little light pollution, offer the best chance of seeing the aurora. Any planet with an atmosphere and magnetic field is likely to have aurorae. Scientists have captured incredible images of aurorae on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune.
Aurorae on Mars have also been seen, but as the 'red planet' does not have a global magnetic field, aurorae behave differently and appear to be far more widespread.
Solar flares are like enormous explosions on the surface of the Sun in which streams of charged particles are emitted into space. It typically takes two days after the flare is seen on the Sun for the particles to reach Earth.
Upon their arrival, these particles can result in aurora activity. Intense aurora displays are generated following massive explosions on the Sun known as 'coronal mass ejections'. These explosions release clouds of hot plasma containing billions of tons of material travelling at around two million miles per hour. When the clouds reach the Earth, they interact with the Earth's magnetic field to cause events called geomagnetic storms.
The Sun's activity fluctuates, with activity reaching a peak every 11 years. The last time solar activity peaked was in , and the cycle is now reaching its minimum. However, solar activity is predicted to rise again through to the mids.
Regardless of the Sun's activity, aurorae can still occur at any time and observers in high latitudes should always look out for them. Many of our Swedish forefathers believed the lights to be a gift from benevolent gods providing warmth and light in the form of a volcano in the north. Elsewhere in the country they were believed to be the light reflection from large shoals of herring and bode well for the local fishermen and the Swedish farming community saw the lights as heralding a good harvest in the coming year.
The Northern Lights feature prominently in Norse mythology. One legend suggests that the lights were reflections or glow from the shields and armour of the Valkyrie, female warriors who would choose who may die in battle and who may live to fight another day.
Top image credit: Antti Pietikainen. We rather like the view taken by our Estonian ancestors regarding the Northern Lights so we kept it until last. The Estonians believed the lights to be magnificent horse drawn carriages carrying heavenly guests to a spectacular celestial wedding.
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A psychiatrist who spent hours talking with mass murderer James Holmes says that what led Holmes to open fire in a crowded Colorado movie theater was a one-of-a-kind vortex of his mental illness, his personality and his circumstances — and some other, unknown currents that will probably never be uncovered. Twelve other people were injured in the scramble to escape. Reid spent a total of 24 hours interviewing Holmes in July and August , two years after the massacre.
Reid also reviewed 80, to 85, pages of documents provided by prosecutors, the defense and law enforcement. Reid said society will likely never have a comprehensive understanding of what led Holmes to commit murder.
Reid said he relied on the court records, including his videotaped interviews with Holmes, which were shown to jurors during the trial. The book includes a handful of previously unknown facts, the most startling of which is that Holmes suggested to Reid in one of their videotaped interviews that he might kill again if given a chance.
But Reid told the AP he doubted Holmes was a serious threat to other prisoners. These swirls of red light are an aurora on the south pole of Saturn.
Want to make some aurora art? Check out this pastel aurora activity! What Is an Aurora? More about the sun! Visit our sun gallery! How old is the sun?
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