Our Celestial Backyard: The Solar System - Celestron NexStar 90 MAK Instruction Manual

Click it, and a new list of items is displayed. Check
the box next to Meteor Shower Radiants.
The radiants for all meteor showers will now be
displayed on the Sky Chart. If you move the cursor
to the center of any radiant, details on that shower,
including when it is expected to peak, will be
displayed.
The Northern (and Southern) Lights
The Northern Lights, or aurora borealis, can be as
stunning as any fireworks display. They appear as
curtains of colorful, shifting light, suspended high
up in the night sky. Unfortunately, they are
generally only visible from far northern latitudes,
and when they might occur is notoriously hard to
predict.
Auroral displays are caused by charged particles
from the solar wind striking the Earth's upper
atmosphere. Our planet's magnetic field guides
these particles toward the poles, which is why
auroras are only visible from high northern and
southern latitudes (the auroral light show is called
the aurora australis in the southern hemisphere).
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Our Celestial Backyard: The Solar System

Our Sun is one of countless stars in the universe.
The planets that circle the Sun are its family,
figuratively speaking, and it would be hard to deny
that Earth is its favorite child. The planet we call
home is located at just the right distance to be
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