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February 8, 2026<\/p>\n
1 min read<\/p>\n
Add Us On Google<\/span>Add SciAm<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n The science behind why some auroras have such stunning wave patterns<\/p>\n Auroras, shimmering bands of light that shoot through the night sky near the Earth\u2019s poles, can follow patterns known as arcs<\/p>\n By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron<\/span><\/p>\n Green auroral arcs extend across the sky in northwestern Canada in 2019<\/p>\n Auroras are nature\u2019s most special light show: when charged particles from the sun hit our atmosphere, they can generate bright colors that dance across the night sky near the Earth\u2019s poles. Auroras can come in various forms, including bands, rays, patches and more.<\/p>\n But why auroras form these patterns is less clear. Now, researchers say they\u2019ve identified the \u201cbattery\u201d that powers at least one kind of aurora\u2014aurora arcs.<\/p>\n A green auroral arc appears above the clouds in this photo taken by an astronaut aboard the International Space Station in 2014<\/p>\n If you’re enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.<\/p>\n In a new study published in Nature Communications, scientists describe how charged particles in our atmosphere become powered up by \u201cAlfv\u00e9n waves,\u201d a special kind of plasma wave that travels along Earth\u2019s magnetic lines and acts like a \u201cspace battery,\u201d according to NASA. Auroral arcs form when fast-moving electrons, juiced by Alfv\u00e9n waves, hit atoms in our atmosphere, releasing light in towering bands.<\/p>\n A panorama of the Northern Lights across the northern, eastern and southern sky on February 27, 2025 near Churchill, Manitoba<\/p>\n The discovery was something of a stroke of luck, made possible thanks to synchronized measurements of an auroral arc in 2015 by both military and NASA spacecraft. \u201cThese combined observations provided different viewpoints over a long enough time to reveal more about the conditions in space that helped create the arc,\u201d NASA said in a statement.<\/p>\n Although the sun\u2019s latest activity cycle has likely already peaked, 2026 is still expected to see plenty of auroras, with the season for the northern hemisphere running through March.<\/p>\n If you enjoyed this article, I\u2019d like to ask for your support. Scientific American<\/span> has served as an advocate for science and industry for 180 years, and right now may be the most critical moment in that two-century history.<\/p>\n I\u2019ve been a Scientific American<\/span> subscriber since I was 12 years old, and it helped shape the way I look at the world. SciAm <\/span>always educates and delights me, and inspires a sense of awe for our vast, beautiful universe. I hope it does that for you, too.<\/p>\n If you subscribe to Scientific American<\/span>, you help ensure that our coverage is centered on meaningful research and discovery; that we have the resources to report on the decisions that threaten labs across the U.S.; and that we support both budding and working scientists at a time when the value of science itself too often goes unrecognized.<\/p>\n In return, you get essential news, captivating podcasts, brilliant infographics, can’t-miss newsletters, must-watch videos, challenging games, and the science world’s best writing and reporting. You can even gift someone a subscription.<\/p>\n There has never been a more important time for us to stand up and show why science matters. I hope you\u2019ll support us in that mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" February 8, 2026 1 min read Add Us On GoogleAdd SciAm The science behind why some auroras have such stunning wave patterns Auroras, shimmering bands of light that shoot through the night sky near the Earth\u2019s poles, can follow patterns known as arcs By Jackie Flynn Mogensen edited by Claire Cameron Green auroral arcs extend<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":44022,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[50],"tags":[18926,4819,516,7391,5123],"class_list":{"0":"post-44021","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-auroras","9":"tag-patterns","10":"tag-science","11":"tag-stunning","12":"tag-wave"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44021","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=44021"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44021\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/44022"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=44021"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=44021"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naijaglobalnews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=44021"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}On supporting science journalism<\/h2>\n
It\u2019s Time to Stand Up for Science<\/h2>\n