What are the northern lights?

Auroras are natural displays of light in the sky that can be seen with the naked eye. Auroras occur when charged particles (electrons and protons) collide with gases in the Earth's upper atmosphere, producing tiny flashes that fill the sky with colourful light. As billions of these tiny flashes occur in sequence, the lights appear to move or "dance."

In the northern hemisphere, the lights are named aurora borealis, or northern lights, while in the southern hemisphere they are called aurora australis, or southern lights.