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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. 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 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. another name for Maewo

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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

Colorado health officials wanted to investigate a tuberculosis case at the Aurora ICE Processing Center near Denver, but have been refused entry and records.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026

Curaleaf is offering $4 a share for Aurora, representing a premium of more than 45% based on Aurora’s 30-day volume weighted average price.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026

"The true crime genre - whether it's TV, whether it's podcasts, whether it's books – I mean, it's wildly popular," says Joe Moylan, Aurora Police Department's public information officer.

From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026

He crawls up the black-tinged snowdrift to where Aurora is perched, curls up with his head in her little lap, and sobs.

From "The Benefits of Being an Octopus" by Ann Braden

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

The results indicate that Saturn's aurora is doing far more than creating a dazzling light show.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

Weather-permitting, and when conditions are right, the Highlands offers the chance to see the Milky Way and displays of the aurora borealis - the Northern Lights.

From BBC ● May 28, 2026

However, the Met Office Space Weather Prediction Centre suggests there is a low chance of a "glancing blow" of energy on Tuesday night where the aurora could reappear in northern Scotland.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

When asked by the hairdresser what she wanted, Delilah asked for the aurora borealis treatment.

From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera

The likely cause for this feature on solar system giants is aurorae, therefore, the research team surmised that they had uncovered that same phenomenon on W1935.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 2024

The ionized region of the atmosphere, or ionosphere, is most famous as the home of aurorae, which occur when charged particles from the Sun slam into atoms and cause them to light up.

From Science Magazine ● May 12, 2023

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

M. Liais, having had the opportunity of applying a method, which he had devised for measuring the height of aurorae boreales, to an aurora seen at Cherbourg Oct.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 04, No. 26, December, 1859 by Various

He's since filmed the northern lights numerous times - he goes to Iceland once a month and leads tour groups there - and has photographed various auroras, eclipses and bioluminescence.

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Particularly fierce solar storms can knock out satellites and threaten astronauts -- and create dazzling auroras in the skies known as the northern or southern lights.

From Barron's ● May 19, 2026

Powerful solar activity can create stunning auroras on Earth, but outside the protection of our planet's magnetic field, the Sun can become extremely dangerous.

From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026

Natural phenomena such as wildfires and auroras, which the satellites can also detect, were excluded from the analysis.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 9, 2026

They also interact with particles in the upper atmosphere to create the bewitching veils of light known as the auroras.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson