- The Northern Lights are beautiful and odd

and they've understandably inspired

tons of myths over the years.

Like the vikings thought they were a bridge to Asgard

where Thor and the other gods live.

And another Norse legend says that

they're the light reflected off the Valkyrie's shields.

And then people in Finland thought it was

the archangel Michael, John Travolta,

fighting Beelzebub the Devil.

The problem is, those are wrong,

wrong, wrong, they're all wrong.

It was actually Galileo Galilei,

the famous early astronomer and

recanter of science, who gave the Northern Lights

their name, the Aurora Borealis,

which in Latin means Dawn of the North.

But it wasn't until Norwegian scientist Kristian Birkeland

in 1896, figured it all out that we came

to fully understand what causes the Northern Lights.

See, in the center of the Earth you will find

hot molten iron just roiling around

under tremendous gravitational pressure.

And, this roiling effect of the molten iron

creates magnetic fields that shoot out

from the center of Earth through the crust

and into the space around the planet.

That forms what's called the magnetosphere

and it's good thing we have it.

Because we're constantly being bombarded by

charged particles from the sun.

The sun is so hot that it exists

in a fourth state of matter.

There is gas, liquid, solid, and then plasma.

And in plasma, ions, which are positively charged atoms,

and electrons, just float freely around one another.

And these particles have such a high energy charge

that they can escape the massive gravitational field

of the sun and barrel toward Earth

at something like a million miles an hour

like a shotgun blast full of solar hate.

That's called the solar wind.

When these particles encounter our magnetosphere,

most of them just kind of bounce harmlessly off.

The Earth is saved.

But, some of them manage to get through

at the places where the magnetosphere

is weakest at the north and south poles.

You follow me?

When the electrons that make it through our magnetosphere

and into our atmosphere encounter

oxygen and nitrogen, the electrons transfer energy

to these atoms and excite them.

And to calm back down, the oxygen and the nitrogen

have to shoot off some of this energy

which they do in the form of

tiny packets of light called photons.

Beautiful beautiful photons.

Depending on where in the atmosphere

the electrons interact with the oxygen or the nitrogen,

different colors will be produced.

Like for example, oxygen, up to about 150 miles,

will produce a nice yellow-green color

when electrons bombard it.

Above that it emits a nice red color.

And then nitrogen up to about 60 miles into the atmosphere,

puts out a really beautiful blue.

And all of these colors can mix together,

forming beautiful glowing pinks and purples and whites.

It's like Miami Beach up there.

So this interplays is most vibrant during solar storms

which depend somewhat on the solar cycle.

And, it's always going on.

But the thing is you can't see the Northern Lights

during the day because they tend to be

outshined by the sun.

So tell us, have you ever seen the Northern Lights?

Let us know in the comments section below.

And while you're down there, don't forget to subscribe.

And for even more awesomeness,

visit our website at brainstuffshow.com.