Definition of Aurora Borealis

The aurora borealis is a phenomenon that takes place in the night sky of the polar regions, such is the case of the North and South Poles, and is characterized by the brightness or luminescence that it proposes. In this phenomenon there is a process of light emission whose origin is caused by the very low prevailing temperatures. The collision of electrons and solar protons against the poles are responsible for the appearance of this phenomenon at night.

In the southern hemisphere it is called Aurora Austral and in the North Aurora Borealis. In Europe it knows how to appear on the horizon with a reddish hue. Between the months of September and March, when the coldest seasons arrive in the northern hemisphere: fall and of course the winter, is when you can best appreciate this phenomenon of the northern lights. On the contrary, in the southern hemisphere, it predominates between March and September.

Characteristics. It takes its name from the Roman goddess of dawn Aurora

The auroras will always have different shapes, colors and structures that know how to change quickly, that's why is that men in the past claimed to appreciate dragons and other creatures among those flashes of light.

Its name comes from the mythology Roman, where Aurora knew to be the goddess who represented the dawn. It is about a beautiful woman who flies in the sky and anticipates the arrival of the sun. It has the Sun and the Moon as brothers and its children are the north, south, east and west winds. According to this mythology, the morning dew is the result of Aurora's crying. Eos, it was his equivalent in Greek mythology.

The phenomenon caused interest and intrigue when it was observed thousands of years ago, while that admiration and surprise triggered his study and investigation. From the seventeenth century, when there were technical possibilities to study the phenomenon in depth, it was awarded the name. The astronomerEnglish Edmond Halley and the British physicist Henry Cavendish were two of the personalities who contributed the most to its definition and study at this time.

It can appear in other regions for short periods and on other planets like Jupiter and Saturn.

Photos: iStock - Nikolay Pandev / Moonshot11