Northern Lights: Amazing Aurora Borealis Photography

  
Image via Wikimedia Commons

Not all of us can travel to the ends of the earth to personally witness the magnificent natural phenomenon of polar auroras – those breathtakingly beautiful bands of colored light that stream across the sky, primarily visible in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. It’s a sight that has inspired folklore, art and music, and it’s easy to see why. In the Arctic, it’s referred to as Aurora Borealis or northern lights, and in the Antarctic, Aurora Australis or southern polar lights.

Here’s an explanation of this beautiful display of nature:

Image via: VisitNorway.com

Image via: Borealis 2000

From Virtual Finland:

The sun gives off high-energy charged particles (also called ions) that travel out into space at speeds of 300 to 1200 kilometres per second. A cloud of such particles is called a plasma. The stream of plasma coming from the sun is known as the solar wind. As the solar wind interacts with the edge of the earth’s magnetic field, some of the particles are trapped by it and they follow the lines of magnetic force down into the ionosphere, the section of the earth’s atmosphere that extends from about 60 to 600 kilometres above the earth’s surface. When the particles collide with the gases in the ionosphere they start to glow, producing the spectacle that we know as the auroras, northern and southern. The array of colours consists of red, green, blue and violet.

Image via Wikimedia Commons

The Northern Lights are constantly in motion because of the changing interaction between the solar wind and the earth’s magnetic field. The solar wind commonly generates up to 1000,000 megawatts of electricity in an auroral display and this can cause interference with power lines, radio and television broadcasts and satellite communications. By studying the auroras, scientists can learn more about the solar wind, how it affects the earth’s atmosphere and how the energy of the auroras might be exploited for useful purposes.

Image via National Geographic

Alaska, the Scandinavian coast, areas of northern Greenland, and Siberia tend to have the best views of this amazing display, but it can be seen in other areas as well, including rare sightings in continental America.

The wonders of nature can certainly be pretty awe-inspiring.

Link [Virtual Finland]

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