Auroras can be observed near the north and south magnetic poles. They are multicolored curtains of light appearing about 100 km to 1,000 km in the sky.

An aurora occurs when charged, high-energy electrons and protons, the main components of the solar wind arriving from the sun, plunge into the atmosphere along magnetic field lines at the North and South poles and collide with nitrogen and oxygen atoms. The green light (558 nm wavelength) emitted by the excited oxygen atoms can be clearly seen at an altitude of 100 km to 200 km. At an even higher altitude, the 391-nm light emitted by nitrogen atoms can be observed. This light is a kaleidoscope of colors that vary by the hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen atoms and molecules in the atmosphere.

Auroras are observed at the North and South poles because the earth is like one gigantic magnet with the N pole at the South Pole and the S pole at the North Pole attracting charged particles.