Numbers in the News: Northern Lights

During fall and winter, colorful bands of light called auroras can be seen dancing across the Arctic sky. Here are some facts and figures about this dazzling display.

The speed at which charged particles from the sun strike Earth’s atmosphere, interacting with gases like oxygen and nitrogen to create a glowing aurora

The earliest suspected human record of an aurora, depicted in a cave painting in France

The year that Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei first used the term “aurora borealis” to describe the northern lights

The number of Earth’s poles, where auroras usually occur. The aurora at the South Pole is called the aurora australis.

The height above Earth’s surface at which auroras typically form

_{^{SOURCES: NASA, NOAA SPACE WEATHER PREDICTION CENTER, UNIVERSITY OF ALASKA GEOPHYSICAL INSTITUTE}}