Brilliant Northern Lights (Ricky Patel)

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Brilliant Northern Lights

Kerrie Cassani Updated: May 10, 2012, 8:23 AM EDT Getty Images

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Auroras Swirl Over Alaska

Aurora Borealis over Mt. McKinley, Alaska.

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Northern Lights continue to put on a 2012 show. According to msnbc.com Sky-Watchers as far south as Colorado and Kansas got to see the show in April. The skies may be taking a quick break but new developments on the sun suggest there could be another wave of glowing green glory.
According to Northern Lights Center, the bright lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in color are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. 

http://www.weather.com/news/20120427-brilliant-northern-lights-slideshow-20120