AURORAS

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Auroras, which are sometimes called the northern or southern lights, are natural light displays in the sky. Astronomers, can observe them at night, particulary in the polar regions. They also call them polar auroras.

In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora boreallis. Aurora was the Roman goddes of down, and Boreas was the Greek god of the north wind.

The aurora borealis is only visible in the sky from the Northern hemisphere, where the chances of visibility increases with proximity to the north magnetic pole. It illuminates the northern horizon as a greenish glow or sometimes a faint red glow. It most often occurs around the time of equinoxes,which are in March and September.

The northern lights have had a number of names throughout history. The Cree people, who live in North America, call the phenomenon Dane of the spirits.

The aurora boreallis´southern counterpart, the aurora australis, has similar properties. However, it is only visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica.

INSTRUCTIONS: COPY THE ALTICLE ON YOUR NOTEBOOK AND DO THE FOLLOWING ACTIVITIES.

1.- Read the article and answer the questions.

Where can you see the northern lights?

How did the aurora borealis get its name?

What do they look like?

What are the similarities and differences between the northern and the southern lights?