(DEUTSCHE WELLE) — In ancient history, men would sometimes look up into the extreme northern or southern skies and see flickering green or blue lights shimmering across heavens. These auroras were often attributed to the gods, for what else could explain such displays?

Today we have a more scientific explanation for the polar lights, known as aurora borealis in the Northern Hemisphere and aurora australis in the Southern: the effect is caused by charged particles from the sun colliding with the Earth’s magnetic field.

via Sun begins new solar cycle, flinging radiation at the Earth | Science & Technology | Deutsche Welle | 10.03.2010.

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