ELI5: What are the Northern Lights?

Imagine the Sun as a giant, fiery ball that throws tiny bits called solar particles out into space.

Sometimes, these particles zoom towards Earth. Luckily, Earth has a big invisible shield called the magnetic field. This field protects us from most of these particles.

However, some particles sneak in, especially near the North and South Poles.

Here's what happens next:

• The particles crash into gases like oxygen and nitrogen in Earth's atmosphere (that's the air we breathe!).
• When these crashes happen, the gases get excited!
• Then, they calm down and release extra energy as light.

Think of it like this: imagine bumping into a toy car, giving it energy, and then the toy car starts flashing its lights. The solar particles are like you bumping, the gases are like the toy car, and the flashing lights are the aurora.

The color of the light depends on which gas the particles hit:

• Green is the most common color and comes from oxygen.
• Red also comes from oxygen but at higher altitudes.
• Blue and purple come from nitrogen.