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
Aurora Borealis (icebreaker) being the inner Arctic Ocean. The planning for the vessel started in 2002. The project is coordinated by the European Polar Board, an expert board of the European Science Foundation. In March 2007 the BMBF (the German Federal Ministry for Science and Education) funded the preparations for "Aurora Borealis", the Helmholtz Association center Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research hosted this project. In 2010, the German Council of Science and Humanities stopped to support the planning which made the future of the 800-million-euro ship, designed by Schiffko (nowadays Wärtsilä Ship Design), uncertain. The project has been delayed, and