@anderson_joshuaStand outside on a clear night in Norway, Iceland or Alaska and there's a decent chance the sky puts on a show for you. Green, purple and pink light rippling overhead, no stage, no ticket. That's the Aurora Borealis, and the mechanics behind it are almost as good as the view. Charged particles streaming off the Sun run into Earth's magnetic field, get steered down into the upper atmosphere, and slam into the gases hanging up there. Those collisions are what light everything up. What you're actually watching is a reaction between solar material and our own air, painted across the dark in colors that keep shifting. Some of the best artwork you'll ever see is hanging right over your head, free of charge. Would you want to stand under the Northern Lights in person?
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