the-northern-lights noun – Definition, pictures, pronunciation and usage notes | Oxford Advanced American Dictionary at OxfordLearnersDictionaries.com.
Are northern lights singular or plural?
The noun northern lights is plural only. The plural form of northern lights is also northern lights.
What do the northern lights mean?
The lights are the result of solar particles colliding with gases in Earth’s atmosphere. Early Eskimos and Indians believed different legends about the Northern Lights, such as that they were the souls of animals dancing in the sky or the souls of fallen enemies trying to rise again.
What causes the northern light?
When the electrons reach Earth’s thin upper atmosphere, they collide with nitrogen and oxygen molecules, sending them into an excited state. The excited electrons eventually calm down and release light, which is what we see as the aurora.
How do you spell the northern lights?
The aurora borealis is the shimmering display of lights that sometimes appears in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. The phenomenon is also commonly called the northern lights. An aurora is a natural light display in the sky that is caused by particles from the sun interacting with Earth’s magnetic field.
How do you pronounce borealis?
- BOH-ree-AL-liss.
- BOE RE SL ES.
- bo-re-alis.
- BOH-ree-AY-liss.
Can you see aurora from a plane?
Seeing the Northern Lights from a plane
Seeing the Northern Lights from thousands of feet in the air is a unique experience because the lights appear brighter from the sky than from the ground. It is also easier to see the subtle dancing movements that the lights make.
Who discovered the northern lights?
In the early 17th century, the astronomer and scientist Galileo Galilei named this phenomenon Aurora Borealis.
Where is the aurora borealis?
The northern lights most commonly occur within the geographic area beneath the auroral oval. It encompasses latitudes between 60 and 75 degrees and takes in Iceland, northern parts of Sweden, Finland, Norway, Russia, Canada and Alaska as well as southern Greenland.
Why you shouldn’t sing to the Northern Lights?
Thought to be the souls of the dead, the Sámi believed you shouldn’t talk about the Northern Lights. It was also dangerous to tease them by waving, whistling or singing under them, as this would alert the lights to your presence. If you caught their attention, the lights could reach down and carry you up into the sky.
Can I see Northern Lights with naked eyes?
Auroras appear to the naked eye as a very faint, white glow in the night sky to the magnetic north. Many auroras are totally invisible to the naked eye or can only be seen by looking at them indirectly, i.e. out of the corner of your eye. It is extremely rare to see them in colour with the naked eye.
Is Borealis A GOD?
1. Aurora Borealis is a natural phenomenon named after a Greek god and a Roman goddess. The 17th century astronomer, physicist and philosopher, Pierre Gassendi, saw the Northern Lights on a trip in the North and named them the Aurora Borealis. Aurora was the Roman goddess of dawn who woke up the world with her torch.
Do northern lights make sound?
What is clear is that the aurora does, on rare occasions, make sounds audible to the human ear. The eerie reports of crackling, whizzing and buzzing noises accompanying the lights describe an objective audible experience – not something illusory or imagined.
What colour is aurora?
Aurora is visible at mid-latitudes during the largest magnetic storms, but it is dominated by red colors. In ancient times when the aurora appeared overhead, people often associated the aurora with good or bad omens and sometimes considered it a manifestation of activities of heavenly spirits or gods.
Are the northern lights actually green?
Green is the most common color observed but the Northern Lights can also appear white-gray. And a cloudy night if you’ve never seen them before, you might not even be entirely sure of what you’re looking at.
What’s another word for aurora?
In this page you can discover 20 synonyms, antonyms, idiomatic expressions, and related words for aurora, like: magnetic storm, alpenglow, cockcrow, eos, daybreak, borealis, morn, dawning, dayspring, dawn and morning.
Why is it called aurora borealis?
In 1619 A.D., Galileo Galilei coined the term “aurora borealis” after Aurora, the Roman goddess of morning. He had the misconception that the auroras he saw were due to sunlight reflecting from the atmosphere. Image left: Early drawing of the aurora, depicted as candles in the sky, 1570.
What’s another name for the northern lights in Alaska?
Alaska is one of the best places on earth to see the northern lights, also known as the aurora borealis – colorful bands of light that dance in the dark night sky.
What state is known for northern lights?
Hands down, Alaska is the best place to see the northern lights in the United States, thanks to its geographic location and dark skies.
What are the southern lights called?
In the Southern Hemisphere, it’s the aurora australis, or southern lights.
How do you say aurora borealis in French?
aurora borealis [example]
aurore boréale [ex.]
Do pilots see the Northern Lights?
Very often, pilots will warn the cabin crew when they see the Northern Lights, so they can draw it to the passengers’ attention.
What year is best for Northern Lights?
What is this? Generally, the best time to see the Northern Lights is between September and April when the long hours of darkness mean plenty of opportunity for seeing the aurora. The Northern Lights occur throughout the year.
Can you fly above the Northern Lights?
“We can actually fly into the auroras,” said NASA astronaut Don Pettit, a flight engineer for the orbiting lab’s current Expedition 30. “It’s like being shrunk down and put inside of a neon sign.”
What is the meaning of North Star?
Definition of North Star
: the star of the northern hemisphere toward which the axis of the earth points. — called also polestar.
