The Northern Lights

Aurora Borealis

The Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, are sometimes seen in the northern hemisphere, including here in Southern Ontario.

These ethereal lights have always fascinated me and on the occasions that I have observed them, the sight has filled me with awe.

My husband and I were out late one night on our motor-bike.

When we were about a mile out of town, he turned off the headlights and the engine and said "Look up".

He had seen them earlier in the evening and wanted to show them to me.

I was amazed at the light show and was humbled by their magnificence.

The ones we saw that night were green and blue, but I have since seen them in other colours, such as orange, although green seems to predominate.

The last time I saw them was near our home in the Autumn of 2007 and to see them properly you need to be away from any artificial lights such as street lights.

I could tell you how they are made - by electrically charged particles from the sun which are activated by the Earth's magnetic field, but I think the video below explains it so much better than I can.

The pictures are beautiful and in this video the scientist, Steve McGreevy, records the sounds made by this phenomenon.

The video is about 7 minutes long and is really beautiful to watch, so make yourself comfortable and prepare to be amazed!

Minnesota Planetarium and Space Discovery Center
When solar flares hit the Earth's magnetic field, the skies at both poles can light up with auroras. The particles also create very low frequency electromagnetic waves, a type of natural radio that can be picked up around the globe

Northern Lights - a website
These lights have been around since Earth formed an atmosphere - the dinosaurs saw it, early humans saw it and our descendants will see it. The scientific name for the phenomenon is "Aurora Borealis"