Northern Lights

This passage discusses a natural phenomenon called the Northern Lights.

Lexile Level: 940L

Categories: Science & Technology Animals & Nature

On some dark nights in certain parts of the world, an amazing green glow appears on the horizon around midnight. Green waves roll across the sky like a curtain in the wind. Other colors may appear during the night and fill the sky with shooting rays of blue, purple, and pink. Scientists believe these lights are caused by solar storms. During solar storms, particles of gas from the sun blow toward the earth at a thousand miles per second. Sometimes the particles break through the earth's atmosphere and crash into gas particles. The gas particles then produce light. The best places to see the northern lights are Greenland, Norway, and Canada. The solar storms that cause the beautiful northern lights sometimes also cause problems. The power might go out, or radios and cell phones won't work.