Solar cycle 25 is kicking off in style. Our sun has a cycle of activity and as it becomes more active, there will be more sightings of the northern (and southern) lights. That is what is happening this winter.
As well as emitting sunlight, our sun has an expanding atmosphere made of charged particles and magnetic fields. This high-speed solar wind blows over the Earth, but the Earth has its own magnetic field (imagine a large bar magnet with its poles roughly aligned with geographic north and south) and this can deflect the solar wind. This magnetic barrier is weakest at the poles of the “bar magnet” so that we tend to see auroral displays at high latitudes. The bigger the space weather storm, the deeper charged particles can penetrate the magnetic field of the Earth, so that during intense events, the northern lights are seen at lower latitudes.
