The northern lights, or aurora borealis, are a natural light display in the high-latitude skies, caused by charged particles from the Sun colliding with Earth's atmosphere and exciting atmospheric gases. Key points:

• What they are: A glow of colorful light dancing across the night sky, often green but can include pink, red, purple, yellow, or blue hues. The phenomenon occurs in the polar regions where Earth's magnetic field guides solar particles toward the atmosphere.

• How they form: Solar activity—such as solar flares and coronal mass ejections—hurls charged particles into space. When these particles encounter Earth’s magnetic field, they travel along field lines toward the polar regions and collide with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, releasing light as they return to lower energy states.

• Where and when: They are most often seen near the magnetic poles, particularly in high-latitude regions like northern Norway, Sweden, Finland, Canada, Alaska, and parts of Russia. They are seasonal and more frequent during periods of high solar activity, and clear, dark skies away from city lights improve visibility.

• Why they dance: The shimmering motion results from continuous, shifting interactions between solar particles and atmospheric gases, plus the Earth's magnetic field shaping where the light appears. Astronauts viewing from space also see them at roughly eye level near the poles.

If you’d like, I can tailor this to a quick guide for planning a Northern Lights trip (best times, locations, and visibility tips) or explain the science in more detail.