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• Aurora
  Aurora

  noun

  the ancient Roman goddess of the dawn.
• aurora
  aurora

  noun

  an atmospheric phenomenon consisting of bands, curtains, or streamers of light, usually green, red, or yellow, that move across the sky in polar regions. It is caused by collisions between air molecules and charged particles from the sun that are trapped in the earth's magnetic field

Aurora

American  

[uh-rawr-uh, uh-rohr-uh] / əˈrɔr ə, əˈroʊr ə /

noun

• auroras,
  plural
• aurorae
  plural

1. the ancient Roman goddess of the dawn.

2. (lowercase) dawn.

3. (lowercase) a radiant emission from the upper atmosphere that occurs sporadically over the middle and high latitudes of both hemispheres in the form of luminous bands, streamers, or the like, caused by the bombardment of the atmosphere with charged solar particles that are being guided along the earth's magnetic lines of force.

4. a city in central Colorado, near Denver.

5. a city in northeastern Illinois.

6. a first name.

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Aurora ¹ British  

/ ɔːˈrɔːrə /

noun

1. another name for Maewo

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Aurora ² British  

/ ɔːˈrɔːrə /

noun

1. Greek counterpart: Eos.  the Roman goddess of the dawn

2. the dawn or rise of something

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aurora ³ British  

/ ɔːˈrɔːrə /

noun

1. an atmospheric phenomenon consisting of bands, curtains, or streamers of light, usually green, red, or yellow, that move across the sky in polar regions. It is caused by collisions between air molecules and charged particles from the sun that are trapped in the earth's magnetic field

2. poetic the dawn

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aurora Scientific  

/ ə-rôr′ə /

• auroras
  plural

1. A brilliant display of bands or folds of variously colored light in the sky at night, especially in polar regions. Charged particles from the solar wind are channeled through the Earth's magnetic field into the polar regions. There the particles collide with atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere, ionizing them and making them glow. Auroras are of greatest intensity and extent during periods of increased sunspot activity, when they often interfere with telecommunications on Earth.

2. ◆ An aurora that occurs in southern latitudes is called an aurora australis (ô-strā|||PRIMARY_STRESS|||lĭs) or southern lights. When it occurs in northern latitudes it is called an aurora borealis (bôr′ē-ăl|||PRIMARY_STRESS|||ĭs) or northern lights.

3. See also magnetic storm

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Usage

What is an aurora? An aurora is a natural light display in the sky that is caused by particles from the sun interacting with a planet’s magnetic field. The most well-known aurora is the aurora borealis, the shimmering display of colorful lights that sometimes appears in Earth’s Northern Hemisphere. The phenomenon is also commonly called the northern lights. The aurora that occurs in the Southern Hemisphere is called aurora australis or the southern lights. (The word borealis is Latin for boreal, which simply means “northern.” The word australis is Latin for austral, which simply means “southern.”)On Earth, auroras appear in many colors ranging from green and pink to red, yellow, and blue. Both the northern and southern versions can be called aurora polaris because they occur around Earth’s poles, but this term is not commonly used. Auroras are not exclusive to Earth and occur on every planet in our solar system except Mercury.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• auroral
  adjective
• aurorally
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• aurorae
  plural
• auroras
  plural

Etymology

Origin of Aurora

First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Latin aurōra “dawn, dawn goddess,” east

Explanation

An aurora consists of bands of light in the sky along the north and south poles. An aurora is a beautiful astronomical light show. If you look up at night and see bright bands of light, it's not an invasion by aliens: it's a natural, electrical phenomenon called an aurora. An aurora can happen at either of the Earth's magnetic poles, north or south. An aurora is considered one of the most gorgeous natural occurrences, and you’re lucky if you see one. The two types of auroras are called aurora borealis and aurora australis — which mean northern lights and southern lights, respectively.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

Aurora aurora aurorae auroras

Jordan said the deal offers Aurora shareholders an opportunity to participate in a more diversified global platform and increase their exposure to U.S. regulatory tailwinds.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

Aurora Corona, a former Pico Union Neighborhood Council member, remembers visiting the theater as a child.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

Philip Morris has invested about $1 billion in the Aurora campus so far.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026

The operator first introduced the Aurora trains into passenger service in December, after what EMR said was a three-year delay.

From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026

Not since Noah built the Ark have citizens of Aurora County seen such water!

From Each Little Bird That Sings by Deborah Wiles

A portion of those particles are channeled to Earth’s magnetic poles, and when the solar wind is particularly active, they become visible as the aurora borealis and aurora australis.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

Those currents help power the aurora itself, which continues heating the atmosphere and sustaining the entire cycle.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

Energy deposited by the aurora heats specific regions of the atmosphere.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

This colour is associated with fast, active nights of aurora activity.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

A glimpse, a pale shimmer on the air; a glow, aurora, dance of electrons, then a face again, faces.

From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood

The CMEs energized Earth’s magnetic fields enough to generate aurorae at latitudes as low as the Florida Keys—and took scientists’ breath away with their combined intensity.

From Science Magazine ● May 15, 2024

The upper-atmosphere heating that powers this emission is linked to aurorae.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 9, 2024

But “the aurorae are always there when you observe an eclipse,” said Katherine R. de Kleer, a planetary astronomer at the California Institute of Technology and one of the authors of both studies.

From New York Times ● Feb. 16, 2023

The main spacecraft would spend years flying around the planet, gathering observations on features such as the magnetic field that probably powers Uranus’s glowing aurorae.

From Scientific American ● Apr. 19, 2022

The subjects of discussion were usually those of environment, and most of our talk centred round sea elephants, sea-leopards, penguins, temperatures, wind, wireless telegraphy, fish, aurorae, exploration, ships, Queensland and New Zealand.

From The Home of the Blizzard Being the Story of the Australasian Antarctic Expedition, 1911-1914 by Sir Douglas Mawson

The CMEs cause beautiful auroras, and they can also affect life on Earth by causing geomagnetic storms that can knock down power grids and affect weather and communication satellites.

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

The discovery could also improve scientists' understanding of Saturn's bright auroras and the energetic processes taking place within its magnetosphere.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 10, 2026

When these materials slam into Earth's magnetic shield, they can knock out satellites, threaten astronauts -- and create colourful auroras in the skies of northern and southern latitudes.

From Barron's ● Aug. 5, 2026

The events produced bright and widespread auroras across the UK, with the northern lights visible as far south as Devon and Cornwall.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 21, 2026

Werner’s favorite is one about light: eclipses and sundials, auroras and wavelengths.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr