When charged particles of the solar wind collide with atoms or molecules in the Earth's atmosphere, the latter are ionised or excited, emitting light to create aurora. In the Northern Hemisphere, it is known as aurora borealis, which dances in the night sky in high-latitude areas such as Iceland and Alaska. Its southern counterpart is the aurora australis, which illuminates the far south in the Southern Hemisphere.

Orion is one of the most easily recognisable constellations and can be seen in both Northern and Southern hemispheres. The pattern of Orion looks like a hunter with his bow and an arrow, and the belt around his waist is formed by three evenly spaced stars. Orion stands upright in the Northern hemisphere and appears upside down in the Southern hemisphere.

The Southern Cross, a distinctive cross-shaped asterism comprising five stars, is visible in the night sky of the Southern hemisphere throughout the year. The Southern Cross is thus depicted on the national flags of some countries in the Southern Hemisphere like Australia, New Zealand and Brazil to represent their geographical location.

Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia is the largest salt flat in the world and best known as "Mirror of the Sky". It is covered by a thick but extraordinarily flat layer of salt. After a rainfall, the thin layer of water will transform the area into the world's largest mirror. At night, visitors will find themselves in a magical wonderland completely surrounded by stars from above and below.

The two soft patches of light above the spectacular aurora australis are the Large and Small Magellanic Clouds, two famous celestial objects visible in the Southern Hemisphere. Named after the Portuguese explorer Ferdinand Magellan, they are in fact two irregular galaxies orbiting the Milky Way.

 

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