Why are the Northern Lights in the north?

Question

So this question sounds pretty stupid, I know...

But I'm just thinking, if you can see the northern lights way up north such as in scandinavian countries, is there something like it way down south in antarctica?

If they really only do exist in the north, why is that? why can't they exist in the south?

Sorry if this doesn't make sense!!

Answer 1

There is a southern counterpart, however there are fewer people in the appropriate southern latitudes to appreciate it.  I personally know several South Pole "Winter Overs" who very much enjoyed watching the Aurora during the long polar night. One of them, Chris Bero, mentions them in passing in at least two of his journal entry pages on his frozen planet web site. (The original site has been removed from the uchicago.edu server;  these are from the internet wayback machine.)

Chris Bero's Frozen Planet page http://web.archive.org/web/1997052200331...

One mention of Aurora at the South Pole http://web.archive.org/web/1997052206490...

Aurora happen near the rotational poles of the Earth because the Earth's magnetic poles are near there.

As mentioned in the wikipedia article, (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_bore... , Aurora happen when charged particles collide with atoms in  the Earth's upper atmosphere, adding energy to their electrons which then emit light as they fall back down to their original lower energy levels.  This is also knowns as fluoresence.

The sun is continuously emitting charged particles.  Turns out that charged particles don't pass through magnetic fields terribly efficiently.  When these guys encounter the Earth's magnetic field, they can become trapped within it, and will follow the magnetic field lines (lines of equal magnetic field strength; see figure link below).  In the case of the Earth, they end up drawn towards the north and south magnetic poles. When the field lines enter the atmosphere, the particles do too and they collide with atmospheric atoms and cause them to fluoresce.

Here is a nice cartoon that illustrates the lines of equipotential in the terrestrial magnetic field, and how they intersect with the thing envelope of atmosphere around the Earth. http://www.geology.ohio-state.edu/~vonfr...

Answer 2

I  got your point. Northern lights (Aurora Borealis) are in north just as Southern lights (Aurora Auastralis) are in south; both within their polar (Arctic & Antarctic) circles.

There isn't much land in Southern hemisphere in those latitudes but for the huge landmass of 'Antarctica' (5 million square miles) in Antarctic circle entirely where none lives permanently. Areas of Argentina & Chile that extend upto 56 degrees (on same latitudes of Denmark, Lithuania or Newfoundland ) South, might receive spillover of Aurorae when sun is active. Only those stationed in Antarctica see Aurorae.

Answer 3

ah the aurora borealis...i love calling it that

Auroras (north/south polar lights; or aurorae, sing.: aurora) are natural colored light displays in the sky, usually observed at night, particularly in the polar zone. They typically occur in the ionosphere. Some scientists[who?] call them "polar auroras". In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis, named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas. It often appears as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red, as if the sun was rising from an unusual direction. The aurora borealis is also called the northern polar lights, as it is only visible in the North sky from the Northern Hemisphere. The aurora borealis most often occurs from September to October and from March to April. The Cree call this phenomenon the Dance of the Spirits.

Its southern counterpart, the aurora australis/southern polar lights, has similar properties. Australis is the Latin word for "of the South".

simplified: when certain ions crash u get a glow the north and south are where these certain ions meet because of the magnetic pull around those areas.

Answer 4

Your question is not stupid at all, on the contrary.

Polar lights do indeed exist both in the north and in the south.  They are caused by charged particles coming from the Sun and mostly being deflected by the Earth's magnetic field, but reaching the upper layers of the atmosphere near the magnetic poles.  Up there the situation is fairly symmetric, but the southern lights are seen by very few people.  So, your question could almost be interpreted as a variant of the old philosophical question about the falling tree:  If a stream of charged particles hits the atmosphere and nobody sees it, does it make a light?

Answer 5

The northen lights are caused by the solar wind which is deflected by the earths magnetic field and gets directed to the poles.there they hit the atmosphere exciting the atoms and relesing light.It happens in both the poles.Ditto in the south.