Exploring Auroras - Fact Finders - Discover the Night Sky

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by jay

Exploring Auroras introduces readers to the appearance and behavior of auroras over Earth’s polar regions. It guides readers from first observing the sky “explode” with color to understanding how auroras form different shapes such as curtains, arcs, bands, and patches, and how brightness changes with height. The book compares the northern aurora borealis and the southern aurora australis, explains where each is typically seen, and describes year-round visibility under dark, clear skies.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryStory & Novel

FormatPDF

Pages40

Reading Time1 h 2 min

AccessFree to download

Fact findersDISCOVER THE NIGHT SKY

EXPLOSIONS OF LIGHT

DISCOVERING AURORAS

STUDYING THE GLOW

EXPLAINING AURORAS

GLOSSARY

INTERNET SITES..

CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS..

INDEX

EXPLORINGAURORAS by Karen Latchana Kenney Digitized by the Internet Archivein 2020 with funding fromKahle/Austin Foundation https://archive.org/details/exploringauroras0000kenn 538.76 Dec17 KEN Kenney,Karen LatchanaExploring auroras # Fact findersDISCOVER THE NIGHT SKY EXPLORING AURORASBY KAREN LATCHANA KENNEYConsultant:llia lankov Roussev,PhDCAPSTONE PRESSa capstone imprint Fact Finders Books are published by Capstone Press,1710 Roe Crest Drive,North Mankato,Minnesota 56003www.mycapstone.com Copyright o 2018 by Capstone Press,a Capstone imprint.All rights reserved.No part of thispublication may be reproduced in whole or in part,or stored in a retrieval system,or transmittedin any form or by any means,electronic,mechanical,photocopying,recording,or otherwisewithout written permission of the publisher.Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data is available on the Library of Congress website.978-1-5157-8734-1(library binding)978-1-5157-8738-9(paperback)978-1-5157-8750-1(eBook PDF) Editorial Credits Adrian Vigliano,editor;Veronica Scott,designer; Wanda Winch,media researcher;Gene Bentdahl,production specialistPhoto Credits NASA,21,IMAGE/UC Berkeley,26,Johnson Space Center/Earth Science and Remote Sending Unit,28-29(background),Polar/University of lowa,7,Solar Dynamics Observatory,14;Newscom:MondadoriPortfolio,16,Zuma Press/Peter Barritt,17;Science Source,11;Shutterstock:Aaron Rutten,22-23,Atiketta Sangasaeng,10-11(background),27,Georgios Kollidas,12,MidoSemsem,8,Mihai Speteanu, 20,muratart,14-15(background),Nejron Photo,24,Nicku,10,Nicolas Primola,19,Pavel Vakhrushev,starfield background,Peter Hermes Furian,13,Phung Chung Chyang,4-5,9,Tsuguliev,cover,25,Zulkefli Mohd Yusop,18Printed in China.010293F17 # TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter 1 EXPLOSIONS OF LIGHT………………… …………4 Chapter 2 DISCOVERING AURORAS… Chapter 3 …………………………16 STUDYING THE GLOW……… Chapter 4 …………………22 EXPLAINING AURORAS. …30 GLOSSARY .. …31 READ MORE… ……31 INTERNET SITES.. ………………31 CRITICAL THINKING QUESTIONS.. …………32 INDEX…… # EXPLOSIONS OF LIGHT On a cold night close to Earth's poles,gazeinto the sky.Bright stars twinkle in the dark.Nowwatch —you are about to see the sky explode withcolor.Green light dances above the trees like flames.The light ripples in waves across the sky.Then othercolors appear.First you see yellow,then red,andeven blue.The lights swirl,and the sky shimmers. What are those lights?This natural light show is anaurora.It can only be seen when it's dark in certain partsof the world.An aurora has different shapes.A curtainshape is thin and flat with folds.An aurora also moves inarcs,bands,and patches.An aurora can quickly changeshape and color as it moves. An aurora shoots upward through the sky.It is brightestat the bottom and gets fainter the higher up it goes. Auroras happen in two areas on Earth,near theplanet's poles.One is in the northern hemisphere.The lights here are the aurora borealis.Manypeople call them the northern lights.The best placesto see the northern lights are in parts of Canada,Alaska,Iceland,and Norway. Another area is in the southern hemisphere.These lights are the aurorα australis,also calledthe southern lights.These lights are harder to see.They happen where few people live,over Antarcticaand the southern Indian Ocean. Auroras happen all year long.You just needa dark and clear sky to see them.Sometimes thelights are dim.Other times the lights are verybright.You could even read a book by their glow.An auroral zone is the area where aurorashappen.These zones are oval-shaped.Theysurround Earth's magnetic poles.

FAQs

What do auroras look like in the sky?

Auroras can appear as thin curtain shapes, and they can also form arcs, bands, and patches. Their shapes and colors can change as they move.

Where do auroras usually happen on Earth?

Auroras occur near Earth’s poles, in both the northern and southern hemispheres, surrounding the magnetic poles.

When is the best time and place to see auroras?

Auroras can be seen all year long, but you need a dark and clear sky. The text notes common northern-lights viewing locations in parts of Canada, Alaska, Iceland, and Norway.

Sep 28, 2026

Uploaded by jay