What do they call the Aurora Borealis in the southern hemisphere?

Baloo55th

A chance to nit-pick! They call it the Aurora Borealis. They can't see it, 'cos they have the Aurora Australis down there instead.... (Sorry, folks. Couldn't resist...) Jan 20 09, 1:45 PM

looney_tunes

The aurora borealis is not seen in the southern hemisphere. (We southern hemisphereans do know about them, and call them by their proper name!) There is a corresponding phenomenon centered on the South Pole, called the aurora australis. The aurorae "are natural light displays in the sky, usually observed at night, particularly in the polar regions. They typically occur in the ionosphere. They are also referred to as polar auroras. In northern latitudes, the effect is known as the aurora borealis, named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas by Pierre Gassendi in 1621. The aurora borealis is also called the northern polar lights, as it is only visible in the sky from the Northern Hemisphere, the chance of visibility increasing with proximity to the north magnetic pole, which is currently in the arctic islands of northern Canada. ... Its southern counterpart, the aurora australis or the southern polar lights, has similar properties, but is only visible from high southern latitudes in Antarctica, South America, or Australasia. Australis is the Latin word for 'of the South'." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_Borealis Jan 20 09, 1:46 PM

star_gazer

The Aurora Borealis are often called the Northern Lights, the Aurora Australis are also called the Southern Lights. This is a trippy video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=icugqEEOgkg Jan 20 09, 2:35 PM

author

Aurora australis, or southern polar lights. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aurora_australis Jan 21 09, 5:13 PM