A hauntingly beautiful aurora borealis appears in this night sky photo. Veteran astrophotographer P-M Heden of The World at Night captured this image from Lapland, northern Sweden in March 2012.
Charged particles from the sun’s solar wind blast through Earth’s atmosphere and cause the auroras. These particles, at altitudes above 50 miles or 80 km, interact with gases in our atmosphere causing the varied colors in an aurora. Due to the Earth’s magnetic field, these particles travel to the Earth’s pole causing the aurora borealis, or northern lights , and its southern counterpart the aurora australis, or southern lights.
Editor's note: If you have an amazing skywatching photo you'd like to share for a possible story or image gallery, please contact managing editor Tariq Malik at tmalik@space.com.
Follow SPACE.com for the latest in space science and exploration news on Twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
Join our Space Forums to keep talking space on the latest missions, night sky and more! And if you have a news tip, correction or comment, let us know at: community@space.com.
