I will discuss what causes them, and will you be able to see them.I will also talk about the shapes of the auroras.
The Northern Lights aka Aurora Borealis....Their counter parts the Southern Lights aka Aurora Australis...
We have all heard about the Northern light.Why haven't we heard much about the Southern lights?Well it's simple not many people live down in the Antarctica...
What causes the Auroras?
Not an easy answer here....But I can tell you this for sure.Years of being taught in elem and middle school and yes even in high school....Teachers were telling us it's the sun beaming off the ice cap...I didn't buy into this theory,because way up North they have 24 hours of darkness in the winter....When I asked my ex Teachers this they didn't know what to say...
Ok so what causes them?
From the years I have studied them and all the reading I have done....It all starts from the sun.When the sun shoots outs CME(Coronal Mass Ejection) Large amount of solar particles are thrown into space.If they are aimed at the Earth The plasma cloud would arrive in 2 to 3 days...This still won't give us a light show,we need more things to happen and they do...When the particle reach the Earth's magnetosphere(Earth's Magnetic field)They are drawn towards the Earth's geomagnetic poles..In the process of doing this they collide with gases from our atmosphere,when this happens the energy from the collision of the gas molecules and the solar particles will emitted as a photon.(A light particle)..The more collisions the better the light show....Hence the stronger the CME better the show.....
So where do the sun particles come from?
Sunspots and Solar winds...To me I think the best auroras come from the solar winds....Then can last longer and be more brighter...I could go into more details on this later, but for now lets leave it here.
Will you be able to see the Northern lights?
All depends on where your are and how strong the CMS was...The most intense shows occur from about 6 pm to 12 am...Or in magnetic time...2200 to midnight.
The best time of year to see the auroras seems to be from late August through March/April time frame..Less hazy in the air during this time frame...
Color of the Auroras can range from green to purple...I've seen pink, red, blue, green,and purple..
Let's talk about the shapes of the Auroras.
Curtains
They can been seen during mod to high solar activity.They appear to dance across the sky..The light intensity varies from one second to another.
Rays.
Can be seen during high solar activity..The rays will follow along the magnetic field,One will notice how fast the will change.
Corona.
May been seen during high solar activity...Here the rays looked to coming out or going into a center part of the sky..I like to call this the hole...
There is many other shapes but to keep this somewhat short I won't discuss them attm.
How to see the Auroras...
I have so many people ask me if I go out and chase them..Will that is pointless for me..I got a clear view towards the North at the end of my drive way so why waste gas..I use a lot sites to do my forecast,If anyone wants some of the links I will post them...If you live in the middle to higher latitudes your chances are better..Though the Northern light have been seen as far South as TX.
The biggest thing is to have patience...One second the light show may be there the next it's gone they only to reappear bigger and brighter the next second...
I have spent many winter nights sitting outside in -10 to - 30 temps to get some of the pictures I got...Yes it does get very cold......But some how when I'm out there watching the Northern lights I don't feel the cold at all.
Something so beautiful can be so deadly if they were to have make contact with the Earth,keeps in aw.