Auroras over Northern Canada
Image Credit & Copyright:
Kwon, O Chul
(TWAN)
Gusting solar winds
and blasts of charged particles from the Sun
resulted in several rewarding nights of
auroras
back in 2014 December,
near the peak of the last 11-year
solar cycle.
The featured image
captured dramatic auroras stretching across a sky near the town of
Yellowknife in
northern
Canada.
The auroras
were so bright that they not only
inspired awe,
but were easily visible on an image exposure of only 1.3 seconds.
A video taken
concurrently shows the dancing sky lights evolving
in real time as tourists, many there just to see
auroras, respond with
cheers.
The conical dwellings
on the image right are
tipis,
while far in the background, near the image center, is the
constellation of Orion.
Auroras may increase again over the next few years as
our Sun again approaches
solar maximum.