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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

At 3 p.m. on July 11, 2024, Schlamminger was scheduled to present the results at the annual Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements in Aurora, Colorado.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 20, 2026

Aurora shares were up nearly 3% in recent trading on Friday, while Kodiak shares gained more than 3%.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 11, 2026

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

Hennessy, who turns 22 on 20 October, stopped Aurora de Persio in May for her second stoppage win in nine bouts.

From BBC ● Aug. 20, 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

Instead, electrical signals linked to the planet's aurora were being affected by winds in Saturn's upper atmosphere.

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

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

From Science Daily ● May 29, 2026

Red aurora tends to appear during particularly powerful geomagnetic storms, when the solar wind is strong enough to push particles to extreme heights.

From BBC ● Mar. 24, 2026

And there it was again: the spangled ring, his personal aurora.

From "The Book of Dust: La Belle Sauvage" by Philip Pullman

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

This is also the reason for the aurorae that we see on Earth, commonly referred to as the Northern or Southern Lights since they are most extraordinary near the poles.

From Science Daily ● Apr. 17, 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 absolute height of aurorae boreales has been very variously estimated by different observers.

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

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

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

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

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

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