The green, blue and red shapes of the auroras, swirling over the two poles of the Earth, are a visible map of events that happened thousands of kilometres away. When the solar wind charged particles from the Sun that brush past our planet meets the Earth’s magnetic field, the two interact.

The particles from the Sun slide along the contours of the magnetic field towards the poles. When they reach the upper atmosphere, they interact with gases. The particles can give the air molecules enough energy to release electrons, causing them to glow in a range of colors.