12 Dazzling Polar Lights Displays
The Polar Lights is a phenomenon that fascinated human kind since ancient times. These spectacular curtains of colored lights are usually observed at night particularly in the Polar Regions. Let’s take a look at some of this stunning display of nature.
The northern lights are streaks of sheets of pale, flickering, colored lights that are sometimes seen in the night sky in far northern regions. Their proper name is aurora borealis, from the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora and the Greek name for north wind, Boreas. The name was given by Galileo Galilei in the year 1616. The same effect also occurs in the far south, where it is known as aurora australis, from the Latin word meaning “south”.
This stunning display of nature happens between 80 through 1,000 km (50-620mi) above the Earth’s surface. They are caused by electrically charged particles from the sun. These particles strike the Earth’s atmosphere and release energy in the form of light. The effects can come in colors of red, blue, green and purple. It most often occurs from September through October and from March to April. Their most spectacular display are most common every 11 years during high solar sunspot activity as there is an increase in the amount of energy released by the sun.
One of the most memorable was the January 25, 1938 aurora storm when the display covered the entire skies of Europe making people think their towns were on fire. Many fire alarms were rung causing citizens to panic. People in some countries thought the world was coming to an end. It was called the Fatima Storm as it was said to be one of the Fatima Prophesies by Roman Catholics worldwide.
During the February 11, 1958 aurora storm, the display can be seen as far as Los Angeles, Boston, Seattle and Canada. The lights were so intense over Europe that people worried about fires and wars.
The March 13, 1989 storm was seen as far south as Florida and Cuba with the majority of people in the Northern Hemisphere gazing at the most spectacular polar display in living memory.
The next northern lights display peak is on 2011 and 2012.
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31 Responses to “12 Dazzling Polar Lights Displays”
On March 25, 2009 at 5:46 am
great collection of pics I haven’t read much on the lights before very interesting. Would love to see it sometime.
On March 25, 2009 at 5:56 am
AWESOME MIND-BLOWING photographs. somethings are meant just to experience and marvel at and these all fall into such a category. EXCELLENT!!
On March 25, 2009 at 6:22 am
stunning pics and nice article. good for a stumble.
On March 25, 2009 at 6:33 am
Very nice!
On March 25, 2009 at 8:08 am
Have u witnessed in person? stunning pictures!
On March 25, 2009 at 8:32 am
Spectacular photography. Very nice article.
On March 25, 2009 at 10:01 am
Breathtaking photos, lovely article, thanks for sharing.
On March 25, 2009 at 11:40 am
These are some amazing pictures, great work!
On March 25, 2009 at 4:41 pm
Stunning pictures! I someday hope to see them myself!
On March 25, 2009 at 8:02 pm
The pictures are dazzleing, I would love seeing them.
On March 25, 2009 at 8:50 pm
Spectacular. Nice work, friend!
On March 25, 2009 at 8:52 pm
OMG IT LOOKS UNREAL, I LOVE IT!!!
On March 25, 2009 at 11:08 pm
a wonder of nature captured perfectly in this article.. great work ate JK!
On March 26, 2009 at 12:56 am
beautiful pics and xcellent article….
On March 26, 2009 at 1:02 am
WOW!!!!!!!!! These are amazing! Bravo!
On March 26, 2009 at 9:32 am
wow
On March 26, 2009 at 1:59 pm
Wow, this is a very nice set of beautiful pictures. I enjoyed very much. Thanks for sharing it.
On March 26, 2009 at 4:42 pm
Breathtaking Beauty!! Great show and tell:)
On March 26, 2009 at 8:58 pm
Wow, those are gorgeous! Imagine seeing those up close with your own two eyes, a sight worth seeing!
On March 26, 2009 at 10:21 pm
Nice to know this
On March 26, 2009 at 11:29 pm
This is BEAUTIFUL! Gods’ glorious spectacular display!Can we even imagine what it will be like when Jesus comes back for his church?
On March 26, 2009 at 11:51 pm
Awesome pictures and a very infomative write.
On March 27, 2009 at 1:17 am
amazing images of the northern lights… i want to find out the science behind their appearance and experience the magic and wonder captured by folktales of the past!
On March 27, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Great article.I hope I see one of those in my life.Keep the articles coming.Great photos too.
On March 28, 2009 at 8:19 pm
Wow, amazing!
On March 30, 2009 at 11:45 pm
Interesting and beautiful pictures. I really like it.
On April 3, 2009 at 8:14 am
Absolutely amazing. If this isn’t proof of a divine Creator, I don’t know what is.
On April 3, 2009 at 1:57 pm
incredible images and well written – can’t imagine how great it would be to see them first hand!
On April 4, 2009 at 9:31 am
Believe it or not, I didn’t even hear about teh northern lights phenonomenon until I got to college. How is this not a bigger deal that people did not talk about it around me before then or not included in science class?! I am now fascinated by these lights and really enjoyed these pictures..I am hoping to see them in person before I die. Thank you!
On April 8, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Beautiful
On October 3, 2009 at 1:26 pm
You can see these almost every clear night where I live, the native people here used to believe these were spirits.
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