The Northern Lights 🌌
Also known as the Aurora Borealis
The northern lights, or the aurora borealis, are beautiful dancing waves
of light that have captivated people for millennia. But for all its
beauty, this spectauclar light show is a rather violent event. Energized
particles from the sun slam into the Earth's upper atmosphere at speeds
of up to 45 million mph (72 million kph), but our plant's magnetic field
protects us from the onslaught. As Earth's magnetic field redirects the
particles toward the poles the dramatic process transforms into a
cinematic atmoshperic phenomenon that dazzles and fascinates scientists
and skywatchers alike.
Though it was an Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei who coined the name
"aurora borealis" in 1619 - after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and
the Greek god of the north wind, Boreas - the earliest suspected record
of the northern lights is in a 30,000-year-old cave painting in France.
Since that time, civilizations around the world have marveled at the
celestial phenomenon, ascribing all sorts of origin myths to the dancing
lights. One North American Inuit legend suggests that the northern
lights are spirits playing ball with a walrus head, while the Vikings
though the phenomenon was light reflecting off the armor of the
Valkyrie, the supernatural maidens who brought warriors into the
afterlife.
As a child I had always seen polar lights being portrayed in children
movies such as Brother Bear and Balto and it has always been a dream of
mine to be able to see this natural phenomenom in person. To be able to
see these beautiful lights it's best to find yourself in locations such
as: Faikbanks, Alaska; Yellowknife, Canada; Svalbard, Norway; Abisko
National Park,in Sweden; Rovaniemi, Finland; and pretty much anywhere in
Iceland. The best time of year to see the northern lights is from the
months of September to April since the sky is able to get dark enough to
see the aurora.
Find out more at Space.com
Coded by Jacqueline Solorzano