Northern lights vs. southern lights, what’s the difference?
(FOX40.COM) — Northern California was treated to the spectacle of a lifetime on Friday and Saturday as a G5 storm caused an aurora borealis, otherwise known as northern lights, to span across the night sky, leaving many residents in awe.
And on Sunday, although not as strong, the northern lights could be visible through a camera lens for those who missed out the previous two nights.
Will California see the northern lights again on Sunday?
But the recent interest in auroras may leave some asking, “If there are northern lights, are there also southern lights?”
The answer is yes, and while the primary difference between the two is where they are located in the Earth’s hemispheres, they also offer two different visual experiences for those lucky enough to see both.
In the Southern Hemisphere, which includes Antarctica, Australia, a majority of South America, and parts of Africa, aurora borealis is referred to as aurora australis or the southern lights.
Both the northern lights and southern lights are caused by the same result of charged particles from the sun colliding and interacting with the Earth’s atmosphere, but the colors produced by the phenomena are slightly different.
The typical colors produced by the southern lights are green and pink with some red and purple hues while the northern lights tend to lean more toward green and white with blue hues.
California residents capture views of the northern lights
According to the NOAA, the prime viewing seasons for aurora watching are around the spring and fall equinoxes, which are the days that mark the beginning of spring and fall, respectively.
For the northern lights, the best viewing locations are countries like Norway, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Canada, and the state of Alaska.
Countries like Australia, New Zealand, Antarctica, and parts of South America provide the best viewing locations for the southern lights.
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