Aurora borealis are the bright lights that are seen in a night sky the usually in areas that are farther north. The bright lights are similar to that of neon lights as molecules are excited in this case using electricity to produce the bright light. In the case of the aurora borealis charged particle from the sun are shot at earth they then interact with the earth's magnetic field. It is this interaction along with hitting other particles in the atmosphere that causes the particle to be excited thus giving off bright lights. The shape of the lights fallow is that similar to the way the magnetic field and it explain the at times wavy and odd shapes. the colors of Borealis tend to be green as oxygen in the air is what often gets excited the most. Nitrogen despite being the most abundant gas in the air only gives off faint blues or reds hints.
https://earthsky.org/earth/what-causes-the-aurora-borealis-or-northern-lights
"What does it mean for an atom to be excited? Atoms consist of a central nucleus and a surrounding cloud of electronsencircling the nucleus in an orbit. When charged particles from the sun strike atoms in Earth’s atmosphere, electrons move to higher-energy orbits, further away from the nucleus. Then when an electron moves back to a lower-energy orbit, it releases a particle of light or photon."
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