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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

Curaleaf Holdings plans to launch an unsolicited $272 million takeover bid to acquire Aurora Cannabis.

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

Aurora, with her eyes still closed, pinches her face together tight.

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 study shows that the planet's aurora drives a powerful cycle involving heat, winds, and electrical currents that can make Saturn appear to spin at different speeds depending on how it is measured.

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

Historical records from China also described a red aurora visible at unusually low latitudes during that same period.

From Science Daily ● May 14, 2026

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

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

On Earth, aurorae are created when energetic particles blown into space from the Sun are captured by Earth's magnetic field.

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

This roiling sea of charged particles, known as the solar wind, causes space weather, including geomagnetic storms that can interfere with radio communications and power grids, and the visible aurorae on Earth.

From Science Magazine ● Sep. 13, 2022

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 aurora borealia, or rather, the polar aurora,—for there are aurorae australes as well as aurorae boreales,—has been an object of wonder and admiration from time immemorial.

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 particles collide with oxygen atoms high in the atmosphere, the atoms release energy as soft red light, producing rare auroras visible from the ground.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2026

In Japan and other areas farther south, auroras are much less common and are usually linked to powerful geomagnetic storms.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 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

These would produce fabulous auroras, shimmering curtains of spooky light that would fill the whole sky.

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