When the sun's plasmic protons and electrons get sucked into Earth’s magnetic field, these particles light up the gases in the funnel of our magnetosphere as if it were a neon tube display case.  Fairbanks, population 80K, becomes Bright Lights, Big City.

I always understood that the Earth's magnetosphere looked like this--happy, like a pumpkin.

Peter Reid, http://www.nasa.gov/images/content/607968main_geomagnetic-field-orig_full.jpg

When it turns out that it looks more like this most of the time from the constant solar wind:

http://airandspace.si.edu/exhibitions/exploring-the-planets/online/earth/img/magneto.gif	http://iconicphotos.wordpress.com/2010/05/31/blown-away-man/

Mercury, Venus, and Mars have negligible magnetospheres.  Some scientists suggest that the onslaught of solar CME storms were a contributing factor to the other planets in the neighborhood losing their atmospheres.  Our magnetosphere may be a very important thing indeed.  [21]  The video below does a great job of showing how the magnetic field lines interact between the sun and earth.  The lines connect, stretch, and reconnect on the dark side of the planet--especially watch 3:10-3:40.  This causes the charged plasma particles to tumble into earth's well, following the field lines, and land in our backyard.