Northern Lights shine bright in Edmonton area, across North America

The Northern Lights or Arora Borealis had an impressive showing last night, with many across North America able to see the lightshow.

The appearance is caused by the sun’s rays, which emit streams of charged particles known as electrons and protons. These particles are mostly deflected by Earth’s magnetic field, but some are funneled to the top and bottom of the planet where the magnetic forces are weaker. The particles then collide with molecules in our atmosphere, which excites the molecules. The light is emitted as particles and molecules return to their normal state.

The red lights able to be seen in many areas last night are a rarer occurrence which takes place when the particles hit oxygen molecules in the upper atmosphere, around 200 miles or 320 kilometres above the surface. The