What are the Northern lights and Southen lights?
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The aurora borealis (the Northern Lights) and the aurora australis (the Southern Lights) have always fascinated mankind, and people even travel thousands of miles just to see the brilliant light shows in the earth's atmosphere. The auroras, both surrounding the north magnetic pole (aurora borealis) and south magnetic pole (aurora australis) occur when highly charged electrons from the solar wind interact with elements in the earth's atmosphere. Solar winds stream away from the sun at speeds of about 1 million miles per hour. When they reach the earth, some 40 hours after leaving the sun, they follow the lines of magnetic force generated by the earth's core and flow through the magnetosphere, a teardrop-shaped area of highly charged electrical and magnetic fields. \nAs the electrons enter the earth's upper atmosphere, they will encounter atoms of oxygen and nitrogen at altitudes from 20 to 200 miles above the earth's surface. The color of the aurora depends on which atom is struck, and the altitude of the meeting. \n\nGreen - oxygen, up to 150 miles in altitude \nRed - oxygen, above 150 miles in altitude \nBlue - nitrogen, up to 60 miles in altitude \nPurple/violet - nitrogen, above 60 miles in altitude \nAll of the magnetic and electrical forces react with one another in constantly shifting combinations. These shifts and flows can be seen as the auroras "dance," moving along with the atmospheric currents that can reach 20,000,000 amperes at 50,000 volts. (In contrast, the circuit breakers in your home will disengage when current flow exceeds 15-30 amperes at 120 volts.) \nThe auroras generally occur along the "auroral ovals," which center on the magnetic poles (not the geographic poles) and roughly correspond with the Arctic and Antarctic circles. There are times, though, when the lights are farther south, usually when there are a lot of sunspots. Sunspot activity follows an 11-year cycle. The next peak will occur in 2001 and 2002, so opportunities to see auroras outside their normal range should be good. \n\nThere are many stories about sounds associated with auroras, but there are no recordings of auroral sounds. Scientists can't agree on what would produce sounds during the aurora.
1012414
the more north during the winter months you go from the equator, the longer the it stays dark, there is one day in a year in North Pole where it will stay dark for 24 hours, the same holds true for the southern hemisphere during its respective winter time.
196052
Look for North Star !!
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http://www.the-north-pole.com/carols/\nhttp://www.chebucto.ns.ca/~ai251/xcarol.html
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The Earth's axis is tilted 23 degrees. Therefore, when it is winter in the Northern hemisphere, the North pole is tilted away ffrom the sun and experiences a six month night, while the South Pole has a six month long day. Then at the Spring and Autumn equinoxes, both poles get the same amount of sunlight for a few minutes at Noon.
320123
Depends on the time of year.\nSummer solstice = 0\nWinter solstice = 24\nSpring/fall equinox = 12\n\nAll other days, some gradual change from 0 to 24. This is true of any land within the Arctic or Antarctic circles (of course the times are reversed for the Arctic circle). Those circles are defined by the places on Earth that have at least one day of complete light and complete darkness during the year.
980855
Northern!  See map at link below
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mainly above the north and south poles
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It's actually called an "aurora". An aurora results from the emission of light radiation after magnetospheric particles collide with atmospheric molecules. \n\nIn more general terms, there are a series of invisible belts that surround Earth called Van Allen Belts. These belts are trapped within the magnetosphere and thus trap magnetospheric particles. However, around the northern and southern pole some of the particles escape and come in contact with the atmosphere. As a result, a light show occurs.\n\nThe Northern Lights are scientifically known as Aurora Borealis\nThe Southern Lights are scientifically known as Aurora Australis
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it occurs when solar radiation from the sun interacts with the magnetic field around the Earth (its strongest around the poles..so thats why theres a northern..AND southern lights...and no "Middle" lights lol)\n\ni can't wait to see it some day
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You are referring to Aurora Borealis.  I am no expert on the subject, but this is how I understand. It may not be completely accurate, but a real scientist will be along soon to correct me, I hope.\n\nSo the sun spews solar flares regularly.  The flares that reach earth are attracted to the poles, and they hit the atmosphere creating a spectacular display of lights.  I know for sure that they are visible in Alaska, and my GUESS is that they are visible throughout the Arctic circle, or thereabouts.  However, sometimes, when the earth is tilted at just the right angle towards the sun(sorry, don't know what time of year that is) AB is visible as far south as Wyoming and Colorado.\n\nI do not know if it's also visible at the south pole.  I don't know what time of year you're most likely to see it.  I don't know anything.  But now that you have the name: Aurora Borealis, you'll be able to do your research much more easily.
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The North Star is a title of the star best suited for navigation northwards. A candidate must be visible from Earth and circumpolar to the north celestial pole. The current one is Polaris. It is the star at the end of the "handle" of the constellation Ursa Minor.\n\nThe North Star has been historically used by explorers to determine their latitude. At any point north of the equator the angle from the horizon to the North Star (its altitude) is the same as the latitude from which that angle was taken. For example, the angle to the North Star for a person at 30° latitude will be about 30°.\n\nPolaris has a visual magnitude of only 1.97. On the other hand, in 3000 BC the faint star Thuban in the constellation Draco was the North Star; and at magnitude 3.67 it is five times fainter than Polaris. The bright Vega will be the North Star by AD 14,000. In comparison the brightest star, Sirius, has a magnitude of −1.46 (assuming that we exclude the Sun at −26.8).\n\nCurrently, there is no South Star as useful as Polaris; the faint star σ Octantis is closest to the south celestial pole. However, the constellation Crux, the Southern Cross, points towards the south pole.
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Equator!\n\nThe Arctic Circle is in the North.  The Tropic of Capricorn is in the South.  So the Equator is between them.
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If you stand at the north pole, half the stars in all the sky will never go below your horizon (are circumpolar), and the other half of the stars will never rise above it. \n\nIf you stand at the south pole, you will see that other half of the stars all the time, and the northern stars never.\n\nYour answer is that at either of the poles, all visible stars are circumpolar.\n\nIf you stand at the equator, every star you see will rise and set, so at the equator there are no circumpolar stars.
391923
the northern lights are due to charged particles from the sun interacting with the earths magnetic field, causing the atmeosphere to give of visible light.
63325
Geophysist, I would like to study the Aurora Borealis
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The North star.\n\nthe North star been used as a navigation aid and to chart navigational maps.  It has been used to measure astronomical latitude since we map latitudes to the equivalent sky position.  Also, many culture have built folklore around the North star.  Even people with little interest in astronomy or mapmaking or guiding know about the North Star, and some have created stories explaining why.\n\nThe headlight can lose power, flashlight can lose the batteries, the moon is not always out, but the North Star is always there seemingly never move.