Polar Husky A to Z

Northern lights have inspired countless wonderful stories and legends...

Northern

Ancient Inuit believed that the northern lights, or aurora borealis, were the torches of spirits guiding souls to a land of happiness and plenty.

The Greenlandic name for northern light is "arsarnirit" which means "play with a ball". They believed that the northern lights were caused by the souls of the dead playing ball with walrus skulls. According to the legend, if you whistled at the northern lights, they came closer and closer until they finally made off with you!

When northern lights are dancing in the north - they are answered with southern lights in the south!
image of Northern Lights Northern Lights

In the Southern Hemisphere, the 'dancing blankets of light' are called aurora australis (southern lights). The term aurora polaris (polar lights) is a general term for both.

The aurora consists of rapidly-shifting patches and dancing columns of light of various hues. This luminous atmospheric phenomenon occurs most frequently above 60° North or South latitude but also in other parts of the world.

The auroral glow is triggered by solar storms, when solar wind picks up a massive flow of high-energy atomic particles emanating from sunspots. These particles travel at a speed of two million miles per hour (3 million km/h); it only takes them two days to reach Earth! But only some of the particles enter Earth's atmosphere. When they penetrate the Earth's giant, invisible magnetic field (created by molten metals in the center of our planet), they collide with gases in the upper layers of the Earth's atmosphere and produce a visible, colorful light - the aurora polaris.

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