The northern lights, or aurora borealis

The magnetic fields of the sun distort and twist as the Earth rotates on its axis. When these fields become knotted together, they create sunspots. Usually, these sunspots occur in pairs.

As the temperature on the surface of the sun rises and falls, the sun boils and bubbles. Particles escape from the sun from the sunspot regions on the surface, throwing particles of plasma, known as solar wind, into space. These winds take about 40 hours to reach Earth, causing the magical displays.