Astronomy   View all facts   Glossary   Help

physical phenomena > event > celestial event > aurora > aurora borealis

aurora borealis comparison table

Subject	has location	is a kind of	has definition
aurora	the ionosphere in the polar regions of a planet	celestial event	Light radiated by ions in the Earth's atmosphere, mainly near the geomagnetic poles, stimulated by bombardment by energetic particles ejected from the Sun (see solar wind). Aurorae appear about 2 days after a solar flare and reach their peak about 2 years after sunspot maximum.
aurora borealis	northern hemisphere	aurora	an aurora ocurring in the northern hemisphere of the Earth

Next aurora: Jovian aurora    Up: aurora    Previous aurora: aurora australis