What makes the northern lights dance

Ordinary green northern lights in Pudasjärvi, Finland.

Juha Nyman has contributed a photo to this story.

During an amazing holiday in Iceland, we took a late night trip into the middle of nowhere. There was a full moon, so no one had high hopes of seeing the lights, but the landscape looked stunning by moonlight. About an hour later we saw a bright green strip appear in the sky, which moved very slowly and lasted at least another hour. Fantastic night.

s.pinkney has contributed a photo to this story.

This image was taken during a dog sledding expedition near Kiruna, Sweden. The sky initially turned pale green developing into a clearly defined green band across the sky. The band was waving like a cloth banner appearing perpendicular to the horizon reaching overhead then disappearing beyond the horizon behind us.

The band dramatically changed behaviour about an hour after appearing. It was waving quickly but still appeared to be tethered to the two horizons. Then it suddenly snapped at one end and waved around like a flags in the wind. We had clear skies that night and a full moon as captured in this image.

I understood that the northern lights were a result of the sun's cosmic rays hitting our atmosphere and knocking the electrons into lower energy states causing energy (in the form of light) to be released. What is the article saying that is different to this theory? Is there a description what is a magnetotail?

tsevic has contributed a photo to this story.

This fantastic image was taken from Lorain, Ohio along the shoreline of Lake Erie. A red, white and blue curtain of light danced along the northern horizon for nearly 20 minutes before dissipating.

kohamher1 has contributed a photo to this story.

We had just arrived from the UK to a town in Finland called Ruka, When the Northern lights lit up the sky above, It was one of the most beautiful sights that we had ever seen.

amfalconer has contributed a photo to this story.

Aurora is my favourite thing ever! I could watch them all day and night. I live in central Scotland and the Aurora only ever appears (if at all) in the north. My father has never seen the Aurora in his nearly sixty years in central Scotland.

I had recently developed an interest in the aurora and had been painting interpretations of the aurora from what footage and images I had seen. Then while my friens and I were walking home one night across some fields, we witnessed what I consider to be a minor miracle... the Aurora dancing across the skies. Luckily I had my camera and managed to take some shots, but I didnt have my tripod so made do with the top of a fencepost. I posted these shots in the article images section of you want to see them.

One day I will travel to Canada or Alaska and seek the Aurora again. One day...

"Well i do not really follow science, but the discoveries are always owesum"

In early March of 2008, my wife and I were spending the night at a lodge outside Fairbanks, Alaska. At 02:00 some of our fellow guest awakened us to see the lights. Directly overhead, from horizon to horizon, was the aurora borealis. They moved as a giant glow-in-the-dark curtain would move in a gentle breeze. Moments later, their motion became brighter and more drastic. Touches of red and purple began to appear along the blue/green streaks. The display lasted for about an hour, though it seemed like just minutes.

Daniel Rice has contributed a photo to this story.

This photo was taken near Ardath, Saskatchewan in July of 2008. The northern lights were really dancing that night and this photo truly doesn't do them justice. It was taken with a simple point and shoot camera (Canon Powershot S3IS) with a 15 second exposure time.

It was great to see the northern lights because even though I live in the country the light pollution from nearby Calgary obscures them.

DanOCan has contributed a photo to this story.

Northern Lights in Kulmalahti near Nurmes in Finland. Went out for a cig one night around 11 and couldnt make myself go back in till half 4 in the morning wen this had stopped. One of the most amazing things i have ever seen.

squirly2008 has contributed a photo to this story.

This Photo was taken in Northern Wisconsin on Little Bearskin Lake just south of Hazelhurst, Wi. It was a beautiful clear night and my Uncle and I were sitting on the dock enjoying a cigar and a beer when the sky started dancing. I have traveled up North many of times and seen the Northern Lights often but this beautiful summer evening was unlike anything I have ever seen. We sat on the dock for little over an hour and watched this beautiful light show.

Surfer Jon has contributed a photo to this story.

I've been to Alaska 4 times, and had many trips to Canada, but was never fortunate enough to see the Northern Lights on any occasion. It wasn't until the 2005 Leonid meteor shower in late August, when I happened to be waiting outside my own house in Michigan with my camera and tripod, that I was lucky enough to glimpse this show, and get it on film.

joannapoe has contributed a photo to this story.

This aurora photograph was taken by Jay Edwards from my home in Maine, NY on the evening of 10/30/2003 using a Canon A40 Powershot digital camera set at 400 ASA. The field of view is approximately equal to a 35 MM lens on a standard 35MM film camera and the exposure was about 15 seconds in length. The northern lights were also visible here on the previous evening of 10/29/2008. Additional images of the northern lights can be found at the http://home.stny.rr.com/blakhole/

homcavobservatory has contributed a photo to this story.

for the last decade i've been traveling mostly north of 60 latitude, chasing northern lights and other atmospheric optics phenomena. existence has been good to me; i was given lots of wonderful displays to see and enjoy.
this Icelandic Northern Lights expirience was one of the best.
it started early in the evening and went on and on for hours, all across the skies. colourfull curtains of light in a majestic dance.
i should say the camera captured a little more than my eyes saw...well, that's part of the magic...
eventually , back in my hotel room,4am...i fell asleep, still enjoying the fabolous lights dancing in the sky.

justavessel has contributed a photo to this story.

I always liked the northern lights and they always fascinated me. I always wanted to know more about them so thank you for the article!!;-)

AliCia618 has contributed a photo to this story.

This night the Northern Lights where out above Barrow, Alaska - covering the whole entire sky. I could not decide which way to look. They stayed out for hours, and we had to finally go in for the cold. Two large areas where covered in lights, and it actually looked like rivers of light flowing across the sky.

Sunny27 has contributed a photo to this story.