The term for the northern lights is?

The term for the northern lights is?

• A. Aurora borealis
• B. Aurora australis
• C. Sunspots
• D. Comet

Answer: (A)

The northern lights are called aurora borealis. This light display happens when charged particles from the Sun collide with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere near the poles, lighting up the sky. The word borealis means northern in Latin, distinguishing it from the southern counterpart, aurora australis, which lights the southern skies. The colors you see—green, red, purple—depend on which gas is energized and at what altitude: green mainly from oxygen at mid altitudes, red from high-altitude oxygen, and blue/purple from nitrogen. Sunspots are features on the Sun’s surface, not this atmospheric phenomenon, and a comet is a separate body—an icy object that orbits the Sun. So the correct term for the northern lights is aurora borealis.

The northern lights are called aurora borealis. This light display happens when charged particles from the Sun collide with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere near the poles, lighting up the sky. The word borealis means northern in Latin, distinguishing it from the southern counterpart, aurora australis, which lights the southern skies. The colors you see—green, red, purple—depend on which gas is energized and at what altitude: green mainly from oxygen at mid altitudes, red from high-altitude oxygen, and blue/purple from nitrogen.

Sunspots are features on the Sun’s surface, not this atmospheric phenomenon, and a comet is a separate body—an icy object that orbits the Sun. So the correct term for the northern lights is aurora borealis.