What Causes Auroras on Earth and Other Planets?

Imagine Earth has a giant invisible shield, its magnetic field. When the sun throws out tiny space particles, they crash into this shield and cause lights in the sky like a colorful fireworks show. These lights are called auroras, and they dance near the poles of Earth and other planets too.

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Examples

Auroras look like giant fireworks lighting up the night sky above Earth's poles
On Saturn, the auroras can be so bright they are visible from space
Imagine Earth's magnetic shield fighting off tiny particles from the sun, and some of them light up our sky in colors

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Categories: Space · auroras· space weather· planets