Science & history · The Sun and Earth's sky
What the Sun has to do with the aurora
Aurora comes from particles and fields arriving from the Sun meeting Earth's magnetic field and upper atmosphere.
Cause
Solar wind particles spiral in towards the poles and contribute to aurora when they strike the atmosphere, and coronal mass ejections can create the northern and southern lights when they reach Earth.
Seeing it
NOAA's advice: go out at night, away from city lights, with a view towards the pole; the best displays are often within an hour or two of midnight, and a full Moon washes them out. The Kp index runs from 0 to 9, and NOAA notes that the link between Kp and how far from the pole aurora is seen is approximate.
Sources
- NASA What Is the Solar Wind? (opens in a new tab) for over a million miles per hour; coronal holes; heliosphere; aurora · checked 2 October 2026
- NASA Solar Storms and Flares (opens in a new tab) for flares (light, ~8 minutes), CMEs (15 hours to days), particle storms (~30 minutes), effects · checked 2 October 2026
- NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center Tips on Viewing the Aurora (opens in a new tab) for dark skies, near midnight, Moon, Kp 0–9 approximate · checked 2 October 2026