what are the northern lights
the northern lights are one of the big three natural phenomena created by our sun s magnetic activity the northern lights are caused by large numbers of electrons that stream towards the earth along a magnetic field and collide with air particles in our skythe air then lights up rather like what happens in a fluorescent light tube and what we see is the northern lights also called aurora borealised northern lights are rare but you can enjoy them in our photo gallery a more scientific explanation of what the northern lights are the northern lights are created with sufficient geomagnetic activity and form at around 60 miles high around 100 km above the earth s surface