Where do the northern lights come from?

The beautiful dancing lights of the aurora borealisare often seen across Canadian skies. But where do they come from?

In short, the northern lights are a result ofchargedparticlesfrom the suninteractingwith the Earth's magnetic field.

As particles from the solar wind follow thelinesof our protective field down to the poles of our planet, they collide with theindividualatoms of ouratmosphereto produce thespectacularlight show.

For more information on the best times to look up and catch the northern lights, check out Canada's Space Weather forecast service online.

If you have a science question you'd like answered, send Johanna Wagstaffe a tweet (@Jwagstaffe) or an email: johanna.wagstaffe@cbc.ca.