Written by CNN Staff Writer
For those who like their stargazing at the peak of the northern hemisphere’s summer, there’s an unusual and entirely enjoyable treat coming — and it’s called the Northern Lights.
The Aurora Borealis, as it’s known in the Northern Hemisphere, is the bright light bursting into the sky above northern regions of Canada, Russia, the US and northern Europe and Canada. It was first observed by a hunter in northern Scandinavia and has been a spectacular sight ever since.
On Halloween night at 11:25 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, northern lights would appear across four hours of Northern Hemisphere sky
An aurora borealis occurs when electrically charged particles from the Sun slam into Earth’s magnetic field, creating ripples in the atmosphere.
A huge variation of brightness can be observed depending on the height at which a charged particle enters the atmosphere.
In 2011, scientists at the University of Helsinki created a simulation which demonstrated that the atmosphere’s north and south poles can be visited for up to 18 hours of the year.
Most lights seen in other parts of the world are caused by the Sun (or cosmic rays) but auroras are created by two different things: clouds and weather.
As a result, seeing the lights is not just a magnificent event, but a scientific and physical science puzzle as to where they begin and end.