In Pics: Stunning Aurora Substorm Captured By Stargazers

The Northern Lights offer a dazzling break from your doomscroll. Many planets, including Earth, have a magnetosphere—a vast magnetic shield generated by their molten metal cores—that stretches far into space.

Earth's magnetosphere protects the planet by absorbing the energy of harmful charged particles from space. When parts of this magnetic shield become overloaded with energy, they can trigger geomagnetic storms, similar to how thunderclouds build before a storm. During these storms, the stored energy travels along Earth's magnetic field lines and pours into the atmosphere like heavy rain.

The influx of particles during geomagnetic storms injects millions of amps into the atmosphere, creating spectacular auroras visible far from the polar regions.

Solar Activity and Coronal Mass Ejections

Occasionally, the Sun emits massive bursts of solar material during a series of explosive events. These eruptions, known as coronal mass ejections (CMEs), appear as enormous blobs hurtling through space.

Colors of the Aurora

Aurora colors result from energetic particles colliding with gases high in the atmosphere, each gas emitting distinct colors at specific altitudes:

Green auroras, the most common, are caused by electrons exciting oxygen gas between 100-200 km altitude.
Blue auroras appear when nitrogen gas is energized at altitudes of 100-200 km.
Reddish-purple or pink glows occur when nitrogen below 100 km altitude is excited.

Many planets, including Earth, have a magnetosphere, which is a large magnetic shield generated by the churning molten metal core that extends far into space.

When certain regions of the magnetosphere become overloaded with energy, a geomagnetic storm can erupt similar to how thunderclouds form before a storm.

Author's summary: Earth's magnetosphere shields the planet and, during geomagnetic storms fueled by solar eruptions, creates vivid auroras with colors depending on atmospheric gases and altitude.

Mashable India — 2025-11-07