Arctic Circle and North Pole Picture Gallery

Arctic Circle and North Pole Pictures: Polar Bear and Cub
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The northern lights, or aurora borealis, seen near Juneau, Alaska.

The lights appear when electrically charged particles from the sun collide with air molecules over the Earth's magnetic poles. The charged particle streams are called solar wind. When solar activity is heavy, creating more solar wind, large and brilliant auroras result.

Read more about the Arctic and the North Pole.

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Photo gallery by Chelsea Lane-Miller
Photograph by Cmdr. John Bortniak, NOAA Corps, courtesy NOAA Corps Collection
 

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