Other than geographical location, there really is no difference between the Northern

Lights (aurora borealis) and the Southern Lights (aurora australis). They both take place
over the Polar Regions and are basically the same spectacle. The theory is that the
Northern and Southern Lights are identical, because the charged particles causing the
aurora follow the symmetric magnetic field lines connecting the two hemispheres.
But, the idea of the northern lights and the southern lights being twins is being
challenged by Nikolai Ostgaard and Karl Magnus Laundal, from the University of
Bergen in Norway. They said that the intense spots are seen at dawn in the Northern
summer Hemisphere, and at dusk in the Southern winter Hemisphere, therefore the
auroras are asymmetric not symmetric.
Asymmetrical aurorae
Auroras are caused by collisions between fast-moving particles (ions, electrons,
protons, neutrinos) from space and the oxygen and nitrogen gas in our atmosphere.
These electrons originate in the magnetosphere, the region of space controlled by
Earth’s magnetic field. As they fall into the atmosphere, the particles transmit energy
to oxygen and nitrogen molecules, making them active. When the molecules return to
their normal state, they release photons, which are small bursts of energy in the form
of light. When billions of these collisions occur and enough photons are released, the
oxygen and nitrogen in the atmosphere emit enough light for the eye to detect them.
This supernatural glow can light up the night sky in a variety of colours.