Madison Weaver

Submitted to David Waters

October 3, 2015
Physics 1010 Project
Aurora Polaris
Polar lights are a beautiful phenomenon that occur most nights in both the north and
south poles, and they often form a wide array of patterns and colors. These amazing shows
actually begin in the core of the sun, in a much different form. Then, they make their way
through space and make a stunning appearance at Earths poles.
It all starts in the core of the sun, where energy is created. The temperature in the suns
core can reach over 14 million degrees, and the pressure within is just as strong. This pressure
compresses hydrogen atoms within the suns core into helium, a different element. Energy is
released as a result of this nuclear reaction.
From there, this energy makes its way to the surface of the sun. Heat from this reaction
moves to the surface in something called convection cells, and they carry electrical currents of
charged gas. These electrical currents create magnetic fields within the sun. In some spots, the
magnetic fields are strong enough to push up through the surface.
The magnetic fields that have broken through the surface of the sun slow down the hot
gasses emanating from the sun. These gases are called plasma, and they push on the magnetic
field, forcing it outwards from the sun. Eventually the force becomes so much that the magnetic
field stretches, twists, and breaks away from the sun. A solar storm is created from this brokenoff magnetic field. Several billion tons of plasma gets hurled from the sun when the magnetic

field breaks, and this plasma can travel over 8 million km/h. After about 18 hours, the solar storm
reaches Earth.
Once the storm nears the planet, Earths magnetic fields deflect it. The solar storm
reaches the magnetic field on the side of Earth that faces the sun first. The two magnetic fields
connect to each other upon contact, and the high-energy gases follow the newly formed field
back to Earths poles. This first collision creates the lights that appear during the daytime, since
its the magnetic field on the side of the earth that is facing the sun.
These new magnetic fields fold around the north and south poles of the earth, swinging
over to the side of Earth that isnt being touched by sunlight. They collide near the equator on the
other side of Earth. A new connection is made through this collision, effectively creating a loop
that reaches around Earths dark side from one pole to the other. The gases, as with the first
magnetic collision, follow this loop back to the poles. This creates the lights that appear during
the night, since it occurs on the side of the earth that isnt receiving sunlight.
Thats all account of how the high-energy gases get to Earths poles, but how do these
gases create the bright patterns and colors that we see in the sky? This light is the result of these
high-energy particles colliding with particles that reside within Earths atmosphere, such as
oxygen and nitrogen. The color depends on altitude. Particles that are below 100 km above the
earths surface appear blue violet or red. Greens appear between 100 and 240 km above Earths
surface, and particles above 240 km generate a ruby red color. The form that these lights take
also vary, including things like steady glows, traveling pulses, pulsating globs, and rippling
curtains.
In conclusion, energy that is generated in the core of the sun radiates to the surface and
creates magnetic fields, which break through the surface of the sun and become solar storms.

High-energy gases are carried along with the storms, which make their way to Earth and collide
with Earths magnetic fields. The collisions create channels for the high-energy gases to follow
back to Earths poles. Particles in Earths atmosphere then collide with these gases, and the result
is the beautiful lights that we can see in the sky in the north and south poles.

Works Cited
http://www.physicscentral.com/explore/pictures/aurora-borealis.cfm
http://phys.org/news/2012-10-science-northern.html
http://www.loc.gov/rr/scitech/mysteries/northernlights.html