If there's one thing to be grateful for about the winter season, it's that it's the time of year when we're most likely to catch a glimpse of that truly spectacular display of lights and colours in the sky, known as the Northern Lights.
They make a gorgeous photograph or painting, but they are just spectacular, in a way that's impossible to put into words, when viewed in real life. About six or seven years ago, on a cold November evening, my sister came running in from taking out the trash to tell me I just simply had to go outside and see how beautiful the stars were that night. It just happened to be an exceptionally clear night. As I looked up at the twinkling sky, I just couldn't help but notice something else, too. I recognized the smudge of light high in the sky immediately, as I had seen it once before deep in the country. But now here it was in my own back yard!
A scientific-minded person would tell you the lights are caused by particles of space debris thrown off the sun and bouncing off the earth's atmosphere. I chose more poetic words later when I wrote:
"Our eyes were riveted to the spectacle as shimmering curtains of light danced across the night sky. They appeared out of nowhere and without warning. They sparkled and rippled across the sky and then, suddenly, vanished. They lit up the Eastern and Northern skies, stretching over the apartment building and circling back."
We must have stood out there for an hour, ignoring the cold air biting through our sweatshirts, unable to peel our eyes off the display.
But far more than just something gorgeous to look at, they are history, myth and Northern Heritage. Here are a few other interesting facts I dug up.
They make a gorgeous photograph or painting, but they are just spectacular, in a way that's impossible to put into words, when viewed in real life. About six or seven years ago, on a cold November evening, my sister came running in from taking out the trash to tell me I just simply had to go outside and see how beautiful the stars were that night. It just happened to be an exceptionally clear night. As I looked up at the twinkling sky, I just couldn't help but notice something else, too. I recognized the smudge of light high in the sky immediately, as I had seen it once before deep in the country. But now here it was in my own back yard!
A scientific-minded person would tell you the lights are caused by particles of space debris thrown off the sun and bouncing off the earth's atmosphere. I chose more poetic words later when I wrote:
"Our eyes were riveted to the spectacle as shimmering curtains of light danced across the night sky. They appeared out of nowhere and without warning. They sparkled and rippled across the sky and then, suddenly, vanished. They lit up the Eastern and Northern skies, stretching over the apartment building and circling back."
We must have stood out there for an hour, ignoring the cold air biting through our sweatshirts, unable to peel our eyes off the display.
But far more than just something gorgeous to look at, they are history, myth and Northern Heritage. Here are a few other interesting facts I dug up.
- If you are far enough North, you'll hear the Lights make a sound like cereal and milk.
- Various cultures have attributed the Lights to everything from all sorts of animals (including reflections from large schools of fish), to warriors, dragons, Sky People playing ball, or children waiting to be born.
- Klondike prospectors thought it was a reflection from the Mother-Lode of gold.
- Some people in the North have believed if you whistle or sing during a display, the Lights may take you away or decapitate you. (Yipe!)
- The lowest part of the Lights is about 10 times higher than a jet flies.
- In the early 1800's, a man named John Symmes was so convinced that the Lights were reflections from a world that existed within the Earth's crust that he went all the way to congress looking for funding to explore this world. The money was never granted. (Surprised?)
- The brightest display ever was on August 28 and September 2, 1859. It was seen from all parts of the world and was reported to have such varied effects:
- Alcohol had twice as strong an effect.
- A 16 year old girl had to be taken to an asylum in hysterics because she was convinced it was the end of the world.
- Telegraph machines, with the batteries turned off, continued to operate on the power of the lights alone.
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