Viewing Northern Lights remains on bucket list

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I sit here on Sunday, kicking myself for missing the Northern Lights show that came to us on Friday. I must have been asleep at the wheel during news broadcasts earlier in the day because I knew nothing about this atmospheric phenomenon being visible so far south.

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It wasn’t until Saturday morning when I saw the pictures posted by Facebook friends that this was visible in our area. Paying more careful attention to the news Saturday morning, it was reported there might be a second chance to view the Northern Lights later that evening. Unfortunately, I saw nothing but a cloudy sky after dark.

Viewing the Northern Lights has always been an item on my bucket list. This would have been the capper of a double feature that began with last month’s viewing of the total solar eclipse. Alas, I snoozed, and I lost.

I figured having missed out on this on Friday might be something that would haunt me for days, weeks, months and perhaps years to come.

Still, a glimmer of hope presented itself. News reports suggested the Northern Lights might still be visible Sunday evening, for a third consecutive night. So far as this is being written, there is a clear sky, so here’s hoping. This would save me a trip one day to Whitehorse or Yellowknife. Mind you, visits to the Yukon or Northwest Territories are also on my bucket list, having never set foot in any of the territories.

Unlike the once-in-a-lifetime chance to see a total solar eclipse, getting the opportunity to see the Northern Lights is always there. Under normal circumstances, it means some travel is required, but the trip would be fulfilling.

As was the case with the solar eclipse, I wanted more than just the chance to see a dazzling show from the heavens. I wanted to learn all the science I could behind the eclipse, and I wanted to understand the scientific facts behind the Northern Lights.

The weekend’s light show was the result of a geomagnetic storm that enabled North Americans as far south as Florida to see what is normally reserved for those living closer to the Arctic Circle.

Something I didn’t realize until I further researched the Northern Lights is that the light show is a “violent” occurrence. Energized particles from the sun hammer the earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds up to 72 million kilometres per hour, and our only protection against this onslaught is the earth’s magnetic field.

This magnetic field redirects these particles towards earth’s north and south poles that create this light show. When we see red hues in the sky, it’s produced by nitrogen molecules. The green lights are produced by oxygen molecules.

None of that ever occurred to me. It’s all very fascinating, but I still want to see it for myself.

Update: I had a look at the sky at about 11 p.m. Sunday before deciding I should be in bed. It looked like any other night, but I dragged myself out of bed a few hours later to take another look. There was a bit of a glow on the horizon, but no dancing lights.

It wasn’t meant to be, and viewing the Northern Lights remains near the top of my bucket list.

Mike Jiggens is a Delhi resident.