The aurora borealis is a strange and beautiful display of lights that appear from time to time in the northern sky. They are seen most often during the months of March and October.
The lights have many colours and shapes. Often they are brilliantly coloured and look like enormous, brightly coloured rainbows stretching from one end of the sky to the other in a great curve.
The lights may be as little as ten miles or as much as five hundred miles high. In North America they may be seen from as far south as Mexico, but very seldom. As many as a hundred a year may be seen from northern Canada and Alaska. The aurora of the southern skies is called the aurora australis. This southern aurora can be seen from the southern tip of South America, the southern parts of the continent of Australia, and from the Antarctic Continent. Aurora was the Roman name for the goddess of the dawn in ancient mythology; in Greek mythology she was called Eos. Aurora borealis actually means "northern dawn," and it is often called the Northern Lights; aurora australis means "southern dawn."
