The aurora is one of nature’s most spectacular sights, a dazzling glow in the upper atmosphere driven by space weather.
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Articles on Aurora Australis
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The green glow of an aurora is caused by oxygen ions in the upper atmosphere. Some meteors can glow in this way, too, but only if they are extremely fast.
It’s often said that the aurora, or the northern lights, is caused by ‘particles from the Sun’. But in reality things are more complicated.
A curious kid asks: Why are the northern lights only spotted at areas around the poles?
When solar particles reach the Earth, they not only produce spectacular auroras but also contribute to the chemical reactions leading to ozone depletion, which in turn influences climate patterns.
Researchers have found the first Australian evidence of this global event, during which people on Earth would have witnessed a multitude of spectacular auroras.
The northern lights might look like magic, but they can actually be explained by science – here’s how.
The wired Earth of the 21st century is at the mercy of the volatile nature of the sun.
At a time in the sun’s cycle when space weather experts expect less solar activity, our star is going bonkers with solar flares and coronal mass ejections. What effects will Earth feel?
In the search for life on other planets in the universe we need to find the right kind of star, and it needs to have the right kind of space weather.
Recent Martian findings are just the latest discoveries of aurora on other planets, both in and out of our solar system.
Astronauts living on the ISS get to experience the wonders of the universe’s natural phenomena like no one else.
Our power grid infrastructure on Earth is more vulnerable to space weather than previously thought – with susceptibility in more regions and even during quiet geomagnetic periods.
The southern lights that put on a show recently across parts of Australia are easily explained by science. But some cultures have their own explanation for these dazzling lights in the sky.
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