[highlander]

I was out observing till 1am and the northern lights sparked up. I always bring my camera just incase such an event occurs! Here's a link to the pictures I took.

<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dtalbot/aurora/apr3003/">http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/dtalbot/aurora/apr3003/</a><!-- m -->

I used a Pentax ME Super SLR camera, 28mm WA lens, 800 fuji film.


High

[CanuckCourage]

Those are absolutely awesome , we get those here but not with nearly the colour .

[prz]

wow, those are some great pics.

[ron]

i have seen them twice here in new york i live about 3 miles south from lake ontario so every once and a while i see them, but not with all the colors just mainly white

thanks for the pictures
Ron

[mrlayance]

OMG!
Where was that? I have to go out with you next time that happens.

[dannya2]

Those are amazing pics, I saw the lights a few years back doing some night shift forestry work in northern alberta...made working 7pm-7am outside worth it.

[longname]

Very cool! Sweet pics.

[highlander]

Thanks for your comments. The film gives you a false sense of what you would see. For most northern lights, you just see pale green/white spikes and glow in the north. Sometimes you do see pinks and reds, depending on the activity of the display. Last night the display was mostly a pale green with some pink and slight red tinge in the upper spikes. Either way it's pretty cool to watch the spikes grow and shrink and dance in the sky.



High

[Storm]

Northern lights is very rare in our country. Maybe once or twice a year. I would love to be a part of such a spectacular event. But so far.. I haven't been in the right place on the right time.

thanks for sharing your pics...

[Kim]

Hi, those pictures are beautiful. I've never heard of northern lights, can somebody tell me more about them? how do they happen?

[jen]

Yeah High, those pictures are amazing!! Great job, wish I could have seen it too!! -Jen

[highlander]

Hi Kim;

Thanks!

How they occur (in a nutshell) is our Sun has eruptions on it like the earth's volcanoes do except on a MUCH larger scale. This highly charged plasma races out into space at high speeds and if Earth is in its path, it strikes the Earth's magnetosphere, which, like a magnet on your fridge has a north and south pole. The excited particles rush along the magnetophere to the north and south poles where they collide with nitrogen and oxygen particles. They get so excited (not in that sense )that they glow and emit light, mostly green/white and sometimes pinks and reds. There are southern lights too, known as Aurora Australis.

The Earth's magnetosphere protects us from space originating radiation such as from the sun. It mostly deflects it or absorbs it. When it does this to a large amount of material, such as the material blown off the sun, the result is the aurora. If the Earth didn't have a magnetosphere, most communication such as radio and tv, cellphones etc would be near impossible.

If anyone was watching game 2 of the Ottawa/Philly hockey game a few days ago and noticed that the picture was scrambled at times, that was due to aurora and the Earth's magnetosphere being bombarded with energy from the sun.

If you do a search on google.com about auroras you'll find a more thorough explaination of what happens.


High

[Kim]

Highlander:

Wow! Your thorough explanation made my head spin but I think I get it now, thanks so much!
I've never seen anything like it,but after seeing your pics, I sure hope to in the near future....

[sherpahigh]

Awsome pics.

I've been lucky enough to see them a few different times but only once with so much color, way up in Northern Alberta. Mostly I see Pale green in Calgary, and bright green out in Invemere, BC.

I can't get enough when I actually get to see them though. Never able to get a picture though.

Great shots,

rw