Lights of the North

The northern lights from 62 degrees north in western Sweden. The strong aurora was seen in northern latitudes after months of generally very low aurora activity in the sky. Aurora, which is mostly seen from polar latitudes and also known as northern or southern lights, is produced by the collision of charged particles from Earth’s magnetosphere, mostly electrons but also protons and heavier particles, with atoms and molecules of Earth’s atmosphere (at altitudes above 80 km). The particles originate from the Sun and reach the Earth in the stream of solar wind.