northern lights
Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Medical, Acronyms, Wikipedia.
northern lights:
see aurora borealisaurora borealisand aurora australis
, luminous display of various forms and colors seen in the night sky. The aurora borealis of the Northern Hemisphere is often called the northern lights, and the aurora australis of the Southern Hemisphere is known as the southern
..... Click the link for more information. .
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia™ Copyright © 2013, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. www.cc.columbia.edu/cu/cup/
northern lights
[′nȯr·thərn ′līts] (geophysics)
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
aurora borealis
The ghostly display of lights in the form of streamers, rays, arcs, bands, curtains, sheets or patches that seem to shimmer and flit across the sky in the Northern Hemisphere. These are most common in higher latitudes centering around magnetic poles. They are associated with magnetic storms on the sun, which appear as sunspots. Also called northern lights.
An Illustrated Dictionary of Aviation Copyright © 2005 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved