View RSS Feed

Kiz_Paws Bag Of Trix

Northern Lights in the Prairies

Rate this Entry
15 Comments
by
kiz_paws
, 12-14-2007 at 01:18 PM (2206 Views)

The Northern Lights (or more scientifically known as the Aurora Borealis) is only visible in the North sky from the Northern Hemisphere. We in the Prairies have the privilege of viewing this phenonema on and off throughout our winter season. It is sooooo cool when this is taking place, but one feels compelled to stare at them for as long as they last, or for however long one can hold their position.

Because the lights pulsate, stretching and swaying, the image in the sky can change by the minute. If you look away, then come back to it, the image will have completely changed from the last moment you looked! It can go on for hours, or may only last for a few moments at a time.

When I was a child, my grandpa (twinkle in his merry eye and all) used to say to NEVER whistle at the Northern Lights, as they would then come to the beckoning whistle! I still don't know it that is true (ha), but I suppose out of superstition or maybe habit, I don't whistle at them.

Anyhow, here are a few more pictures of what one could view on an enchanted evening (albeit a COLD one) in the Canadian Prairies, my home:


Please note that neither of these photos were actually taken by me (both can be seen at Wikipedia, a public resource) -- my hands would be waaaaaay to cold to snap them outside. But they hint at the glory and splendor that sway in the skies late at night here.

Cheers,
Kizzo
Categories

Comments

  1. Nightshade's Avatar
    humm thats amazing... kizzo you are really lucky to see them.....one day one day I will get to see them if I have to go to the North pole to do it...
  2. Virgil's Avatar
    Gorgeous!! I would love to see that in person. But I must say I can't stand the fewer hours of daylight in the winter up north. Plus i hate the cold to begin with.
  3. Niamh's Avatar
    I am in love with the the northern lights. A few winters back (and this was a very rare thing) the aurora was visible from the Cooley mountains in Dundalk. Of course i didnt know until the next day when my house mate told me she drove up to look at it. Was very jealous!
  4. Dori's Avatar
    I saw them last winter from my house in New York. But this was the only occasion.
  5. LadyWentworth's Avatar
    They are so pretty! I would love to see them in real life. If they look that pretty in a picture, I can only imagine how much prettier they are when you see the real thing!! Oh! Before I forget, thanks for the Harold Lloyd short the other night! Quite cute!
  6. B-Mental's Avatar
    Here are some interesting things to note about the Northern Lights....Last year when I was in Northern Alaska, the lights actually appear to be to the south of you... When I was in Montana, the mountains have an affect on the fields that generate this phenomena. The mountain will have a ring of lights that extend (not sure, might be callled a corona)......You can actually hear the northern lights, they crackle like a gentle static. I never whistle to them, I whoop and holler and twinkle in their presence.
  7. kiz_paws's Avatar
    B, I don't doubt that one could actually hear the Northern Lights, but I was thinking that maybe this was unique to Alaska and further north? Because I know first hand that sound travels very very far the colder it is. And it is much colder in Alaska than central Canada, I'd wager? So, it is nice to hear from someone who knows something like this. IF (and a big if, ha!) I get brave enough to remove my toque and hood, I will hopefully catch some of this sound, too? **crosses fingers** Next question: WHAT IS A TOQUE? Keep tuned into this very blog, and you will find out! Oh, Lady_W: you are welcome indeed, it was fun and my pleasure! Cheers all (did I mention that it was minus thirty-six celcius all friggin' day here?). Gotta love it, mind you!
  8. 's Avatar
    Oh Kiz, I am so jealous. You live next to a beautiful lake and you can see the Northern Lights *sigh*. I would love to see the Northern Lights, just once. I imagine it's like seeing the sky turn to oil and water. Beautiful pictures, and a beautifully written entry
  9. applepie's Avatar
    Those are amazing pictures Kizzo:) My one regret is that we never made it out to the eastern side of Washington to try and catch a glimpse. There still wouldn't have been a gurantee, but I wish we had tried.
  10. motherhubbard's Avatar
    Kiz, I knew this would be something beautiful. You find the best pictures to post. I showed the kids last night- I had been saving it for something special. I wish I could see them for myself!
  11. 's Avatar
    Wow, those photos are sublime, I love it. The aurora borealis has always fascinated me, its color, it truly seems other-worldly. The universe is still so unexplored. We travelled to the moon, sent a little rover up to Mars and humans feel this sense of superiority while they gorge themselves with another plasma screen TV or oversized house. I'd give it all up to be able to climb up that mystery in the cold Prairie sky to the top, and keep walking, upward. Sigh.

    Go kiz go!
  12. motherhubbard's Avatar
    Wow Jon-I want to respond to this beautifully written statement, but I find myself at a loss of words.
  13. kiz_paws's Avatar
    Amen, M-H.
  14. Countess's Avatar
    Wow. I am in awe and so jealous as well. How beautiful. I could die there, just die under that sky. I imagine that's what God looks like to the naked eye. Thank-you. I saved them on my harddrive.
  15. Captain Pike's Avatar
    Oh Kiz, what great photos and appreciation of this natural light show. Your post has caused so many interesting reflections! I remember seeing the Northern lights, for the first time, when I was a kid. It was in the summer, oddly enough. My friends and I used to sleep out almost every night when we lived at our summer home on Cathance lake. We'd be up at night, horsing around, telling stories and playing hide and seek in and around the periphery of the vast Maine woods. This one night, the whole sky was suddenly lighted up with undulating ribbons of green and blue. The colors were fantastic: their hues changing quickly and slowly -- complex details wiggling here and there upon a slowly cycling background of florescent aquamarine. It was so intense that we were all scared enough, we agreed, to wake up my parents, fearing an alien invasion.

    Next time I saw them was not that long ago. It was the night after my mother died October 30, 2003. This time, they were completely different. My wife and I noticed an odd glow in the night sky and decided to take a ride away from the city to a darkened parking lot behind the community college. What we saw looked exactly like an enormous crimson iris looking down upon us. This time, the colors were all a variety of red, stark and weird, hanging very momentarily directly above us. This eye-like structure was exactly round with a perfect pupil in the center, the transparently thin, red iris being constructed completely by delicately complex twisting filaments.

    As others have written, and these experiences point to our utter ignorance of the goings on of the heavens along with the impossible surety of life itself.