I this video I will show you a compilation of northern lights captured in my backyard, here in Örnsköldsvik at 63 degrees north, Sweden.
I’m fortunate to be living in the auroral zone, a band approximately 6° wide in latitude centred on 67° north and south. In that zone you can observe patterns of brilliant lights that appear as curtains, rays, spirals, or dynamic flickers covering the entire sky known as an aurora borealis or as northern lights (southern lights or aurora australis if you are in the south).
Auroras are the result of disturbances in the Earth’s magnetosphere caused by the solar wind. Major disturbances result from enhancements in the speed of the solar wind from coronal holes and coronal mass ejections. These disturbances alter the trajectories of charged particles in the magnetospheric plasma. These particles, mainly electrons and protons, precipitate into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere). The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emit light of varying colour and complexity.