Whistles, cracks, hisses: the noises of the northern lights

Have you ever heard the greens and pinks of the northern lights? Reports of crackling and whooshing noises accompanying the Auroras have been dismissed by scientists as folklore, but new data shows that under the right weather conditions, the Auroras can be accompanied by a noise.

The lights in the north and south are caused by solar particles colliding with gas. The charged particles are steered towards the poles by the earth's magnetic field. It takes place out of earshot, about 100 km above us.

Scientists set up recording equipment in the village of Fiskars in order to listen to the night sky. They discovered that 5% of the strongest auroras were associated with whistles, cracks and hisses. The researchers found that the noises always coincide with a temperature inversion and appear to be caused by the release of static charge.