Master Answer WritingSign in

UPSC 2024 GS-I · 15 marks · 250 words

What are aurora australis and aurora borealis? How are these triggered?

ऑरोरा ऑस्ट्रेलिस और ऑरोरा बोरियलिस क्या हैं? ये कैसे उत्पन्न होते हैं?

What “Explain” demands

set out how or why something works, with the mechanism made explicit.

The characteristic failure: stating that it works without showing how.

What a top answer must contain

These are the checkable specifics from the marking standard for this question — the actual case, committee, datum or thinker, not an instruction to “give examples”.

  • Southern and northern polar light displays in high-latitude thermosphere (~100-300 km)
  • Trigger chain: solar wind/CMEs → magnetosphere disturbance → charged particles funnelled along field lines to poles → excitation of O (green/red) and N₂ (blue/purple)
  • Why polar: field lines converge at magnetic poles; auroral ovals expand equatorward in geomagnetic storms (May 2024 storm — auroras in Ladakh)
  • Solar-cycle link (11 years) and space-weather relevance: satellite/GPS/grid risks

The band thresholds and the pre-scored sample answers behind this standard stay private — they are the calibration your copy is placed against.

Now write it, and find out what you actually scored

Attempt this question — typed or photographed — and it is marked against the standard above in under a minute: six parameter scores, a blunt verdict, and the points you missed. 50 free credits on signup, no card.

Write this answerSee a marked copy first

More from UPSC GS-I