Greg Priestly, aged 9, of Spokane, Wash, for his question:

How far south can the northern lights be seen?

The best displays of the northern lights happen inside the Arctic Circle. But you have seen them as far south as Spokane. What's more they have been seen through New York and the New England states. Once in a great while the northern lights have been seen in New Orleans. And they have been known to show their beautiful displays as far south as Florida. This means that the northern lights can, at times, be seen as far south as Mexico.

Another name for the northern lights is the aurora borealis .. which means the dawn lights of the north wind. There are southern lights too. They are called aurora australis. The auroras center about the earth's north and south poles. They spread their shimmering beauty some 600 miles up into the thin air above the earth.

The auroras are said to be caused by sunspots,, great storms upon the face of the sun. Since they canter around the earth's poles they are thought to he streams of fine electrical particles. These particles from the sun set the high, thin air to vibrating, The vibrating air particles glow with shimmering lights.