northern lights

Latest about northern lights

STEVE is visible as a pink band rising from the lower left to the upper right of the image, as seen with the Milky Way over Childs Lake in Manitoba, Canada.

Mysterious Skyglow 'STEVE' May Have Been Lurking in an Aurora on Labor Day

By Stephanie Pappas last updated

Scientists are analyzing data from the Labor Day auroral light show to find out if a phenomenon known as STEVE was part of the picture.

Astronomy
A fish-eye-lens photo of STEVE, the mysterious purple river of light, hanging in the sky over Canada

'STEVE' descends on North America after surprise solar storm

By Brandon Specktor last updated

A surprise solar storm bashed Earth on Aug. 7 and 8, triggering an appearance of the mysterious glowing phenomenon called STEVE.

The Sun
This image shows the aurora borealis (northern lights) - a mix of green, purple, and blue lights - in the starry night sky above the snow-topped mountains in Alaska.

Do extraterrestrial auroras occur on other planets?

By Joanna Thompson published

Auroras don't just exist on Earth. Here's what we know about auroras on other planets in the solar system.

Planets
The Subaru Telescope captured video of a mysterious, glowing swirl above Hawaii on April 17, 2022.

Shimmering 'night spiral' captured above Hawaii is actually a dying SpaceX rocket

By Elizabeth Howell published

The descent looked like a 'flying whirlpool' over Hawaii.

Space Exploration
Todd Salat captured auroras over Goðafoss waterfall in northern Iceland on April 14, 2022.

Stunning aurora glow above Iceland after 'dead' sunspot erupts

By Elizabeth Howell published

A sunspot that "awoke from the dead" last week triggered stunning aurora above Iceland.

The Sun
The brilliantly green northern lights on a dark night

Sudden eruption from 'dead' sunspot could bring auroras as far south as New York

By Elizabeth Howell published

After a dead sunspot hurled a ball of plasma toward Earth earlier this week, medium-sized auroras may stretch even farther south than usual.

The Sun
An image of the spinning orb of blue light moving across an aroura-filled sky in Alaska.

Chinese rocket photobombs aurora with spinning orb of light

By Harry Baker published

A spinning orb of light that slowly moved across the sky in Alaska on March 29 was actually frozen fuel left by a Chinese rocket, according to experts.

Space Exploration
A massive coronal mass ejection erupting from the sun in 2017.

'Cannibal' coronal mass ejection will hit Earth at nearly 2 million mph, scientists say

By Ben Turner published

The giant solar flare is a combination of two massive ejections from the sun's surface.

The Sun
The northern lights shine above mountains near Atigun Pass, Dalton Highway, Alaska.

NASA set to launch 2 rockets into the northern lights

By Stephanie Pappas published

Researchers plan to launch two rockets into the heart of the northern lights. Here's what they might find.

Space Exploration
Northern lights glow green and purple above Great Slave Lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada.

Northern Lights: What are the aurorae borealis?

By Paul Sutter published

REFERENCE The northern lights appear in the sky when charged particles from the sun slam into molecules in the atmosphere, releasing energy in the form of colorful lights.

REFERENCE
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Archives