Aurora Aurora An aurora (plural: auroras or aurorae), sometimes referred to as polar lights, northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in the Earth's sky, predominantly seen in the high-latitude regions (around the Arctic and Antarctic). Auroras are produced when the magnetosphere is sufficiently disturbed by the solar wind that the trajectories of charged particles in both solar wind and magnetospheric plasma, mainly in the form of electrons and protons, precipitate them into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere) due to Earth's magnetic field, where their energy is lost. The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric
Trientalis borealis Illinois and Tennessee. Trientalis borealis Trientalis borealis, synonym Lysimachia borealis, also known as the starflower, is a North American woodland perennial that blooms between May and June. Starflowers are creeping rhizomes with 8 inch (20 cm) vertical stalks. Each stalk has a whorl of 5-9 lanceolate leaves at its tip, with one or two white flowers on smaller stalks extending from the center of the whorl. The flowers are about 0.5 inches (11 mm) across and consist of five to nine petals that form a star-like shape. "Trientalis borealis" is listed as endangered by Georgia and Kentucky and is listed