Red sky at night, Peace Region delight

The Northern Lights blessed the region with a beautiful performance last week, as they danced among the stars of the Peace.

Photo credit: Heather Walker Photography

Residents in the Peace were treated to a rare show on November 12-13, as auroras lit the night sky with beautiful and rare hues of red and pink. Auroras don’t just grow green, they can sweep across the sky in blues, purples, pinks, and even deep reds.

The colors show up when fast-moving particles from the Sun collide with the gasses in Earth’s upper atmosphere, giving those atoms a quick burst of energy that they release as light, according to Nasa’s website.

This event was the result of multiple solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CME’s) which took place on the surface of the sun last week, sending ionized particles towards earth according to the European Space Agency (ESA).

An intense X5.1-class solar flare was observed on November 11, which was followed within the hour by a CME traveling at an estimated speed of 1500 km/s. The CME reached Earth on the evening of November 12, resulting in a G4 (severe) geomagnetic storm watch.

Photo by Heather Walker Photography

Together, these bursts of color remind us how closely our little corner of the world is connected to the forces at work on the Sun.