The Journey of the Polar Lights

What are the northern and southern lights also known as?

• Aurora Borealis and Aurora Australis

• Aurora Polaris and Aurora Australis

• Aurora Borealis and Aurora Polaris

• Aurora Australis and Aurora Polaris

What causes the northern and southern lights?

• Collision of high energy particles from the Sun with neutral atoms in our atmosphere

• Collision of protons and electrons from the Sun's corona with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in our atmosphere

• Collision of solar winds with the Earth's magnetosphere

• Collision of coronal mass ejections with the Earth's magnetosphere

What is the outermost layer of the Sun's atmosphere called?

• Corona

• Magnetosphere

• Plasma

• Aurora

What happens to the protons and electrons from the Sun's corona?

• They group together as plasma and travel away from the Sun as solar wind

• They collide with neutral atoms in our atmosphere and produce light

• They get trapped by the Earth's magnetosphere and form the aurora ovals

• They emit photons and create the northern and southern lights

What prevents the solar wind from traveling straight into the Earth?

• Magnetosphere

• Corona

• Plasma

• Aurora

What event overwhelms the magnetosphere and allows the particles to continue their journey to the atmosphere?

• Coronal mass ejection

• Solar flare

• Sunspot

• Magnetic storm

What happens when a coronal mass ejection collides with Earth?

• It overpowers the magnetosphere and creates a magnetic storm

• It causes the Sun's hydrogen and helium atoms to vibrate

• It produces a spectacle of light in the atmosphere

• It forms the aurora ovals

What are the locations of the northern and southern lights called?

• Aurora ovals

• Magnetosphere

• Corona

• Plasma

What happens when the Sun's particles meet up with oxygen and nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere?

• The atoms get excited and emit photons

• The atoms group together as plasma and travel away from the Sun

• The atoms collide with neutral atoms in our atmosphere and produce light

• The atoms emit protons and electrons

What determines the colors that appear in the sky during the northern and southern lights?

• The wavelength of the atom's photon

• The speed of the Sun's particles

• The distance between the Sun and Earth

• The intensity of the solar wind