The skies in the north and south may light up in green and blue when the nights grow longer and the days get cooler. The northern lights are caused by charged particles streaming from the sun slamming into our atmosphere and interacting with nitrogen and oxygen. The particles move in spirals along the planet's magnetic field because of their charged nature.
The best time to see the northern lights is in September through April, while the southern lights are visible from March to September.
The images of the Auroras were taken as part of the Capture the Atlas' Northern Lights Photographer of the Year contest.
The Auroras can be seen over Murmansk oblast in north Russia. The lights give the trees an eerie glow.
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The sky looks like a dream in this photo, which was taken by Tor-Ivar Ness. Ness said it's difficult to set up a photo like this.
An area that is rumored to harbor elves' houses is captured in this image. The foreground painted in ominous stripes of black and gray contrasts with the swirls of green and aqua in the sky.
The northern lights look like a mythical bird in the Maya and Aztec cultures. A photo was taken after a solar storm. The strongest storm on record, the Carrington event in 1859, fueled the Auroras as far as the Caribbean.
A photographer named Rachel Jones Ross captured a picture of purple and green Auroras streaking above a mountain. The moon never rose for three to four days in the land of the midnight sun.
MaryBeth Kiczenski took a picture of the pink and yellow Auroras at the Point Betsie Lighthouse. When oxygen is ionized lower in the atmosphere, the reddish colors in the Auroras come from charged particles slamming into and ionizing oxygen molecule very high up in the atmosphere.
The band of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, can be seen in the photo. Captain Cook thought the rocks looked like gold and named the lighthouse Nugget Point.
The Aurora Australis, or southern lights, made a surprise appearance. Scientists used to think that the northern and southern lights were mirror images of each other, but new research shows that is not the case.
There are ghostly green streaks in the sky. The Aurora oval varies and leans down at high latitudes. The tilt of the magnetic north has an effect on the strength of the Aurora here.
The exposure had to be short so that the water in the fjord wouldn't blur the picture.
Elena Ermolina took a picture of the forest in Murmansk.
During the winter, Murmansk has 40 days of continuous night time.
The photograph by Giulio Cobianchi shows Earth as an alien planet. The photo was taken over the islands of Norway.
A shooting star can be seen in the region between the two arcs.
This is an image of the Auroras. There are trees and snow in the area. This solar storm registered a Kp6 on the Kp index, which is used to "characterize the magnitude of geomagnetic storms." There was a moderate storm that produced bright lights.
The photo was taken byVincent Beudez in Norway. The red color of the sky makes it look like an explosion.
The northern lights can be seen over Suurland. The sky was painted purple and green due to a Kp8 storm. Auroras can be seen as far south as 50 degrees latitude when there is a stronger storm.
The photo was taken by Kavan Chay in New Zealand.
There aren't as many people living in the southern latitudes close to the South Pole as there are in the northern ones. The sky was filled with eerie red and yellow colors, with the Milky Way curving off to the left.
A cracked blue ice cave, alien green light and ominous outline of a figure in the distance make up this straight-out-of-sci-fi image. The picture was taken on a glacier. The ice cave fell months after the photo was taken.
The green in the background was caused by a G2 storm.
The sky is marked by a hook in this picture. On the night of the Kp6 storm, the photo was taken in Kirkjufell. The hook was green due to the ionization of oxygen in the atmosphere.
There was a solar storm that caused the lights to go out.
The red pillars of light are a few minutes away from Ruslan's house. This image shows that there is a chance to see the northern lights in Denmark.
There is a green and blue landscape in Norway. A weak solar storm that causes green colors to dance across the sky was predicted that night.
Out of the sun's 11-year activity cycle, there are storms of such intensity.
The photo was taken over the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Neon green light from the sky makes the river look full of radioactive waste.
This image was created by Itai Monnickendam. The light in the photo is almost as bright as the sun.
The Lofoten Islands are a great place to chase the Aurora. The photo was taken on a day when there was no activity in the sky.
Jose D. Riquelme took this picture in Russia. The "Green Lady" was in the middle of a tableau with green light streaming out from the center.
The northern lights are in the sky over a snow covered mountain The island nation's volcanic past is on full display in the foreground, while the magnetic field makes itself known through the arcs of greenish light.
The green Aurora is painting the ice above the city of Troms. Nitrogen is the most abundant element in our atmosphere and green is one of the most common colors of the Aurora.
A hike from Reykjavk to Brarfoss resulted in a stunning image of the northern lights.
There is a green light streaking out from the horizon line and a river in the background.
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