Home»Northern Lights Oct/Jan

Around 11:00 on 1 October my neighbor called to tell me the lights were out in full force. The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth. Rare, all-red auroras are produced by high-altitude oxygen, at heights of up to 200 miles. Nitrogen produces blue or purplish-red aurora. The lights of the Aurora generally extend from 80 kilometers (50 miles) to as high as 640 kilometers (400 miles) above the earth's surface. The best places to watch the lights (in North America) are in the northwestern parts of Canada, particularly the Yukon, Nunavut, Northwest Territories and Alaska. Auroral displays can also be seen over the southern tip of Greenland and Iceland, the northern coast of Norway and over the coastal waters north of Siberia. During rare occurrences, the lights have seen as far south as New Orleans. The lights do appear in MN several times a year, but many times the light show is obscured by clouds. I spent a couple hours watching the lights. I used a small LED light to paint the car and my neighbor Jody. The last 7 photos were taken on 1 January 14, even though the camera was able to pick up the colors of the lights, my eyes only detected a dim white glow on the horizon. When the northern lights are weak, they will appear as a white glow, but the camera sensor is able to detect and display the northern light colors.