aurora

noun au·ro·ra \ ə-ˈrȯr-ə , ȯ- \

|Updated on: 5 Jun 2018

plural auroras or aurorae play \-(ˌ)ē\

1 : dawn

2 capitalized : the Roman goddess of dawn — compare eos

3 : a luminous phenomenon that consists of streamers or arches of light appearing in the upper atmosphere of a planet's magnetic polar regions and is caused by the emission of light from atoms excited by electrons accelerated along the planet's magnetic field lines

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auroral

play \-əl\ adjective

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aurorean

play \-ē-ən\ adjective

See aurora defined for kids

Examples of aurora in a Sentence

a gorgeous pink aurora aroused us out of our slumber

Recent Examples of aurora from the Web

Bright, colorful aurora, visible to the naked eye, lit up the night sky in both hemispheres.

— angela fritz, Washington Post, "A solar shock wave cracked Earth’s magnetic field last night, but everything is fine," 20 Apr. 2018
As well as studying the aurora and magnetosphere, Juno also helps scientists probe the gravitational field of Jupiter’s interior in exquisite detail by monitoring small tweaks to the spacecraft’s orbit—down to 1,900 miles below the clouds.

— andrew coates, Newsweek, "NASA Juno Unlocks Secrets of Jupiter's Mega Cyclone Clusters," 8 Mar. 2018
National Geographic reports that aurora chasers and citizen scientist photographers began to spot a purple plasma ribbon in the night sky a few years ago.

— gabriella paiella, The Cut, "Rare and Majestic Natural Phenomenon Named … Steve," 16 Mar. 2018
Amateur aurora watchers have taken hundreds of photographs of this adjacent phenomenon, often drawing out its fluorescent colors with long exposures or photo editing.

— jacey fortin, New York Times, "Steve, a Famous Northern Light, Stays Mysterious (and Keeps His Name)," 15 Mar. 2018
At the higher latitudes in Canada and New Zealand, the aurora was visible to the naked eye.

— angela fritz, Washington Post, "A solar shock wave cracked Earth’s magnetic field last night, but everything is fine," 20 Apr. 2018
For 30-minute updates on the visibility of the aurora, visit swpc.noaa.gov.

— lyndsey matthews, Country Living, "There's Another Chance to See the Northern Lights Tonight," 11 Apr. 2018
Discovered by citizen scientists, and substantiated by professional scientists using photographs and satellite data, the new type of aurora is similar to a previously measured—but never seen—atmospheric phenomenon.

— katie langin, Science | AAAS, "Top stories: Honoring Stephen Hawking, excavating eruptions, and solving an ancient skull mystery," 16 Mar. 2018
This is the part of the atmosphere where auroras occur.

— grace donnelly, Fortune, "Elon Musk's Falcon 9 Rocket Tore a Hole in the Atmosphere," 26 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'aurora.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.