Stunning Northern Lights footage

Is this the most amazing thing on planet Earth? It's certainly a contender. This video captures an entire night of Northern Lights' footage condensed into 4 minutes. (Courtesy of the fine chaps at National Geographic.)

So what the hell is it?

The Northern Lights (aurora borealis) are a natural phenomenon that occur when clouds of gas from the Sun collide with the Earth's magnetic field. The collision generates currents of charged particles, which then flow along the lines of magnetic force into the North Pole. (You may remember from school that the Earth's magnetic field looks similar to the shape of an apple. The dip at the top, above the apple core, is the 'North Pole'.) The coloured lights we see are charged particles headed 'into the apple core' and colliding with nitrogen and oxygen atoms on the way. The colour of the lights is determined by the altitude of this activity.

Enough science. Let's smoke some marijuana and watch this groovy shit again.