southern lights
plural nounDefinition of southern lights
Examples of southern lights in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The ephemeral glow of the northern and southern lights has entranced humans throughout the ages, sparking countless creative works, myths, and legends as well as scientific study of the mechanism behind the phenomenon. — Robin George Andrews, National Geographic, "Steve the odd 'aurora' revealed to be two sky shows in one," 3 May 2019 The northern and southern lights result when such particles slam into molecules high up in Earth's atmosphere, generating a glow. — Mike Wall, Space.com, "Hole in Sun's Atmosphere Amps Up Northern Lights," 11 Sep. 2018 Its name is Steve The northern and southern lights have dazzled sky watchers for millennia with their eerie, greenish glows. — Katie Langin, Science | AAAS, "Top stories: Honoring Stephen Hawking, excavating eruptions, and solving an ancient skull mystery," 16 Mar. 2018 The auroras seen at Saturn are similar to Earth's northern and southern lights and occur when solar wind material interacts with the planet's atmosphere and magnetic field. — Samantha Mathewson, NBC News, "Looking for a Halloween Playlist? NASA Shares Universe's Spooky Sounds," 31 Oct. 2017 Just like the northern lights, the southern lights occur when electrically charged solar particles and atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere collide with gases like oxygen and nitrogen, causing those gases to emit light. — Jennifer Nalewicki, Smithsonian, "The Best Places to See the Southern Lights," 29 July 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'southern lights.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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