# What are the Northern Lights?

An episode of [Science for Kids / Science's Not Boring: The Kids Science Podcast](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1896928296), 4 Sep 2026, 13 min.

Audio: https://www.buzzsprout.com/2624612/episodes/19715321-what-are-the-northern-lights.mp3

Look up at the night sky! Have you ever seen giant, glowing ribbons of green, purple, and red light dancing in the air? Join Mira and Finn as they uncover the wild, fiery truth behind the Northern Lights, also known as the Aurora Borealis! You might think they are just pretty, glowing clouds, but they are actually caused by massive explosions on the Sun, ninety-three million miles away! Discover how a fiery, two-million-mile-an-hour solar wind travels through space and crashes into Earth's invisible magnetic shield in a gigantic game of space bumper cars. Plus, we'll travel back to the Carrington Event of 1859—a super-storm from the Sun that was so bright, confused gold miners woke up at 1:00 AM to cook bacon, thinking it was morning! You won't believe how this intense space weather even caused unplugged telegraph machines to literally catch on fire. Bundle up and get ready for a mind-blowing space adventure that is truly out of this world!

## Transcript

[0:00] SPEAKER_00: Welcome to Science Is Not Boring by Codopoly.com.
[0:04] SPEAKER_00: I'm Mira.
[0:05] SPEAKER_00: And I'm Finn.
[0:06] SPEAKER_00: Today we are bundling up in our warmest winter coats and looking way, way up at the night sky.
[0:13] SPEAKER_00: We're talking about those giant, rippling curtains of neon green, purple, and red light that dance near the north and south poles.
[0:23] SPEAKER_01: You mean the northern lights?
[0:25] SPEAKER_01: I've seen pictures of them.
[0:27] SPEAKER_01: But wait, aren't they just pretty glowing clouds floating around in the cold air?
[0:33] SPEAKER_00: Not even close, Finn.
[0:35] SPEAKER_00: They might look calm and magical, like glowing ribbons swaying in a breeze, but they are actually caused by a violent, fiery explosion happening 93 million miles away.
[0:48] SPEAKER_01: 93 million miles?
[0:51] SPEAKER_01: Wait a second.
[0:52] SPEAKER_01: That's exactly where the sun is.
[0:54] SPEAKER_00: You guessed it.
[0:55] SPEAKER_00: The beautiful cold colours painting our night sky are actually born from massive, boiling storms on the surface of the sun.
[1:04] SPEAKER_00: And those storms blast invisible energy toward Earth at over a million miles an hour.
[1:10] SPEAKER_01: A million miles an hour?
[1:13] SPEAKER_01: That's like the ultimate space roller coaster.
[1:16] SPEAKER_01: I need to know how a fiery sunstorm turns into a giant green sky ribbon.
[1:21] SPEAKER_00: To understand how the sky glows, we have to start with the basics.
[1:25] SPEAKER_00: The scientific name for the Northern Lights is the Aurora Borealis.
[1:30] SPEAKER_01: Aurora Borealis?
[1:32] SPEAKER_01: That sounds like a magic spell from a wizard book.
[1:36] SPEAKER_01: Where did that name even come from?
[1:38] SPEAKER_00: The famous astronomer Galileo Galilei actually came up with that name way back in the year 1619.
[1:45] SPEAKER_00: He combined two ancient mythological names.
[1:49] SPEAKER_00: Aurora was the Roman goddess of Dawn, and Boreas was the Greek god of the North Wind.
[1:55] SPEAKER_01: Dawn of the North Wind! Okay, that is definitely a superhero name.
[2:00] SPEAKER_00: It totally is.
[2:02] SPEAKER_00: But this superhero's origin story starts 93 million miles away at the Sun.
[2:08] SPEAKER_00: The Sun isn't just a calm, glowing yellow ball.
[2:12] SPEAKER_00: It's a giant churning nuclear reactor with a super intense magnetic field.
[2:18] SPEAKER_01: So it's basically a gigantic fiery engine boiling out in the middle of space.
[2:23] SPEAKER_00: Exactly.
[2:24] SPEAKER_00: Because its outer atmosphere, called the corona, is superheated to millions of degrees, it constantly shoots out a stream of tiny, electrically charged particles into the solar system.
[2:36] SPEAKER_00: Scientists call this the solar wind.
[2:39] SPEAKER_01: Wait, solar wind?
[2:41] SPEAKER_01: Like the wind that blows the leaves around in our backyard during a storm.
[2:46] SPEAKER_00: Not exactly.
[2:47] SPEAKER_00: This wind is made of subatomic particles called electrons and protons, and it travels through space at crazy speeds, usually between 400 and 800 kilometres per second.
[3:00] SPEAKER_00: Whoa!
[3:01] SPEAKER_01: How fast is that in regular miles per hour?
[3:04] SPEAKER_00: That is between 1 million and 2 million miles per hour.
[3:09] SPEAKER_00: Even at that mind-boggling speed, it still takes this high-speed wind about three to four days to travel all the way from the sun to the Earth.
[3:18] SPEAKER_01: Wait a second.
[3:19] SPEAKER_01: A 2 million mile an hour wind made of nuclear sun particles is heading right for us right now.
[3:26] SPEAKER_01: Why aren't we all fried into crispy potato chips?
[3:29] SPEAKER_00: Don't panic, Finn.
[3:30] SPEAKER_00: We don't turn into crispy potato chips because Earth is protected by an invisible giant force field.
[3:36] SPEAKER_00: It's a huge magnetic bubble surrounding our planet called the magnetosphere.
[3:41] SPEAKER_01: Oh, thank goodness for the magnetosphere.
[3:44] SPEAKER_01: So it acts like a giant space umbrella, and the solar wind just bounces off.
[3:49] SPEAKER_00: Mostly, yes.
[3:50] SPEAKER_00: It deflects the dangerous particles around our planet.
[3:54] SPEAKER_00: But our magnetic field has two weak spots.
[3:57] SPEAKER_00: The magnetic field lines dip down and touch the Earth near the North Pole and the South Pole.
[4:02] SPEAKER_01: So it's like a funnel.
[4:04] SPEAKER_01: The sun particles slide down those lines right into the icy polar areas.
[4:09] SPEAKER_00: Yes, and when those charged electrons slide down that funnel, they smash right into the invisible gases in our upper atmosphere.
[4:17] SPEAKER_00: Mostly oxygen and nitrogen.
[4:19] SPEAKER_01: It's like a gigantic million mile an hour game of space bumper cars.
[4:24] SPEAKER_00: You got it! And when they crash together, they transfer their energy to the gas atoms.
[4:29] SPEAKER_00: The gases get super excited and unstable, so to calm back down, they release that extra energy as tiny flashes of light called photons.
[4:39] SPEAKER_00: Millions and billions of these tiny flashes create the huge glowing curtains we see from the ground.
[4:46] SPEAKER_01: That is so cool.
[4:47] SPEAKER_01: But why are they different colours?
[4:50] SPEAKER_01: I always see pictures of neon green auroras, but sometimes people see red or purple ones.
[4:56] SPEAKER_00: The colour entirely depends on which type of gas gets hit and exactly how high up in the sky the crash happens.
[5:03] SPEAKER_00: Let's start with green.
[5:04] SPEAKER_00: That bright green light comes from oxygen molecules.
[5:07] SPEAKER_01: Oxygen?
[5:09] SPEAKER_01: The same stuff we are breathing right now.
[5:11] SPEAKER_01: How high up is this bumper car crash happening?
[5:14] SPEAKER_00: The green light happens when solar particles hit oxygen between 60 and 150 miles above the Earth's surface.
[5:21] SPEAKER_01: 150 miles up?
[5:24] SPEAKER_01: That is way higher than aeroplanes fly.
[5:26] SPEAKER_01: What if the sun particles hit oxygen even higher than that?
[5:30] SPEAKER_00: If the collision happens really high up, like above 150 miles, the oxygen glows a super rare, brilliant red colour instead.
[5:40] SPEAKER_01: Wow.
[5:40] SPEAKER_01: So green and red are oxygen.
[5:43] SPEAKER_01: What about the deep blue and purple lights?
[5:46] SPEAKER_00: That's nitrogen.
[5:47] SPEAKER_00: When the solar wind slams into nitrogen gas lower down in the atmosphere, usually below 60 miles up, it creates beautiful ribbons of blue, pink, and deep purple.
[5:58] SPEAKER_01: Okay, so the solar wind crashes into gases and the sky lights up like a massive neon sign.
[6:04] SPEAKER_01: But wait, if the sun throws a really big storm, does it ever get dangerous down here on Earth?
[6:10] SPEAKER_00: Usually it's just a beautiful light show.
[6:13] SPEAKER_00: But sometimes the sun throws a major temper tantrum.
[6:17] SPEAKER_00: The biggest solar storm ever recorded happened on September 1st, 1859.
[6:24] SPEAKER_01: It's called the Carrington event.
[6:26] SPEAKER_01: The Carrington event?
[6:28] SPEAKER_01: That sounds like a fancy historical ball.
[6:31] SPEAKER_01: What exactly happened?
[6:33] SPEAKER_00: An English astronomer named Richard Carrington was sitting in his observatory, sketching dark sunspots projected from his telescope.
[6:41] SPEAKER_00: Just before noon, he saw two patches of intensely bright white light erupt right on the sun's surface.
[6:49] SPEAKER_01: Wait, he saw a literal explosion on the sun with his own eyes.
[6:53] SPEAKER_00: Yes! At first, the flash was so bright he thought there was a hole in his screen letting daylight in.
[7:01] SPEAKER_00: But he quickly realised it was a massive solar flare, followed by something called a coronal mass ejection.
[7:09] SPEAKER_00: Imagine a billion tons of magnetized plasma erupting from the sun all at once.
[7:15] SPEAKER_01: A billion tons?
[7:17] SPEAKER_01: That is like stacking 200 million elephants and shooting them out of a giant space cannon.
[7:23] SPEAKER_00: That is an amazing comparison.
[7:25] SPEAKER_00: And this plasma cloud was travelling so incredibly fast that instead of taking three days to reach Earth, it slammed into our planet's shield in just 17.6 hours.
[7:37] SPEAKER_01: 17 hours?
[7:39] SPEAKER_01: That's a direct high-speed hit.
[7:41] SPEAKER_01: What happened to the Earth when it struck?
[7:43] SPEAKER_00: The Earth's magnetic field was completely overwhelmed.
[7:47] SPEAKER_00: The auroras didn't just stay at the icy north and south poles.
[7:51] SPEAKER_00: The sky lit up with bright red and green curtains all over the world.
[7:56] SPEAKER_01: Wait, like everywhere.
[7:57] SPEAKER_01: Even in places where it's super warm.
[8:00] SPEAKER_00: Yes, people saw the northern lights as far south as Cuba, Hawaii, and even Panama.
[8:06] SPEAKER_00: The glowing lights were so incredibly bright that in the middle of the night people could easily read newspapers outside.
[8:13] SPEAKER_01: Haha, reading the daily paper by starlight at midnight.
[8:17] SPEAKER_01: That is wild.
[8:18] SPEAKER_00: It gets even funnier.
[8:20] SPEAKER_00: In the Rocky Mountains, the sky glowed so intensely that gold miners woke up at one in the morning totally confused.
[8:28] SPEAKER_00: They thought the sun was rising, so they started brewing coffee and cooking bacon and eggs for breakfast.
[8:35] SPEAKER_01: Oh my gosh, those poor tired miners eating breakfast in the middle of the night.
[8:40] SPEAKER_01: But did this giant solar storm actually break anything down here?
[8:44] SPEAKER_00: Oh, it definitely caused chaos.
[8:47] SPEAKER_00: Back in 1859, they didn't have the internet or smartphones.
[8:51] SPEAKER_00: The most advanced communication technology in the world was the telegraph.
[8:56] SPEAKER_01: Oh, I know those.
[8:57] SPEAKER_01: The machines where they tap out messages over long wires using Morse code, right?
[9:02] SPEAKER_00: Exactly! Well, this massive solar storm pumped huge spikes of raw electricity right into those telegraph wires all across the globe.
[9:12] SPEAKER_00: The entire system went completely haywire.
[9:16] SPEAKER_01: Uncontrollable electricity in the wires?
[9:19] SPEAKER_01: Did the machines explode?
[9:20] SPEAKER_01: It was totally chaotic.
[9:23] SPEAKER_00: Telegraph machines sparked violently.
[9:26] SPEAKER_00: An operator in Washington DC named Frederick Royce was severely shocked right through his equipment.
[9:33] SPEAKER_00: And in some stations, the telegraph paper literally caught on fire.
[9:38] SPEAKER_01: The sky literally set the communication machines on fire.
[9:41] SPEAKER_01: That sounds like a real-life science fiction movie.
[9:44] SPEAKER_00: It gets even weirder.
[9:46] SPEAKER_00: Operators in Boston and Portland completely unplugged their machines from the batteries to stop the fires.
[9:53] SPEAKER_00: But the machines kept working.
[9:55] SPEAKER_00: They sent messages back and forth for hours, powered entirely by the electrical energy from the space storm.
[10:02] SPEAKER_01: Wait, so the space storm became their giant invisible battery?
[10:06] SPEAKER_01: That is the most mind-blowing thing I've ever heard.
[10:09] SPEAKER_01: What would happen if a storm that big hit us today?
[10:12] SPEAKER_00: Scientists say it would be a huge problem.
[10:15] SPEAKER_00: We rely on electricity for everything now.
[10:18] SPEAKER_00: A massive storm could fry our communications satellites, completely knock out GPS systems, and even cause power grid blackouts that could last for months.
[10:28] SPEAKER_01: Okay, suddenly I'm a little freaked out by the sun again.
[10:32] SPEAKER_00: Don't worry, scientists monitor the sun 24-7 now.
[10:36] SPEAKER_00: They can predict space weather and warn power companies to protect the grid.
[10:41] SPEAKER_00: So mostly we just get to safely enjoy the incredible, colourful lights.
[10:46] SPEAKER_00: Alright Finn, it is time for the quiz.
[10:49] SPEAKER_00: Are you ready?
[10:50] SPEAKER_01: I am totally ready.
[10:52] SPEAKER_01: Hit me with those space facts.
[10:54] SPEAKER_00: Okay, first question.
[10:56] SPEAKER_00: What is the scientific name for the Northern Lights?
[11:02] SPEAKER_00: Next one.
[11:03] SPEAKER_00: How fast can the solar wind travel toward Earth?
[11:10] SPEAKER_00: Question three.
[11:11] SPEAKER_00: What gas in our atmosphere makes the most common green aurora?
[11:18] SPEAKER_00: Alright, here's number four.
[11:20] SPEAKER_00: What was the massive solar storm of 1859 called?
[11:25] SPEAKER_00: Last question.
[11:26] SPEAKER_00: What communication machines actually caught fire during that 1859 storm?
[11:32] SPEAKER_00: Great job! Let's see how you did.
[11:34] SPEAKER_00: The answer to question one is Aurora Borealis.
[11:38] SPEAKER_00: For question two, the solar wind can travel between one and two million miles per hour.
[11:44] SPEAKER_00: Number three, the answer is oxygen.
[11:47] SPEAKER_00: Question four, that massive event was called the Carrington event.
[11:52] SPEAKER_00: And the final answer is telegraph machines.
[11:56] SPEAKER_00: Wow! I don't think I will ever look at the night sky the same way again.
[12:01] SPEAKER_00: Just knowing that those quiet, pretty lights are actually a million mile an hour space collision is so incredibly cool.
[12:10] SPEAKER_01: And I just love that a massive space storm made a bunch of gold miners cook bacon at one in the morning.
[12:17] SPEAKER_01: Best science fact ever.
[12:19] SPEAKER_00: If you love learning about the Northern Lights with us today, please leave us a five-star review.
[12:25] SPEAKER_00: Tell us which colour Aurora you would most want to see in real life.
[12:29] SPEAKER_01: Yeah, just scroll down on your podcast app and tap those five stars.
[12:33] SPEAKER_01: It's super easy and it really helps us out.
[12:36] SPEAKER_00: Oh, and don't forget to check out our site, kidopoly.com.
[12:40] SPEAKER_00: We have tons of fun learning games and awesome science activities waiting for you there.
[12:46] SPEAKER_01: And if you want to shout out on the show, or just want to say hi and tell us your favourite space fact, email us at hello at kidopoly.com.
[12:54] SPEAKER_00: Thanks for exploring the universe with us today.
[12:57] SPEAKER_00: See you next time on Science is Not Boring.
[13:00] SPEAKER_00: Bye everyone.
[13:02] SPEAKER_00: Keep looking up.

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