Northern lights deliver colorful night sky spectacle

2024 has been a good year to observe the natural phenomenon known as aurora borealis. This year, increased electromagnetic activity from the sun has repeatedly resulted in glowing veils of color in the night sky. Above the small village of Brant, in Canada's western province of Alberta, the night sky on Monday was bathed in the green, red and yellow colors of the northern lights.

Fans of the natural spectacle tried to capture the phenomena over the Finnish part of Lapland in photographs on Monday. The Finnish Meteorological Institute provides information about upcoming "space weather," i.e. the phenomena caused by solar flares or solar winds near the Earth. This also includes the aurora borealis.

Back in Alberta, a cinematic sight in the agricultural village of Herronton: What at first glance looks like extraterrestrial cryogenic chambers are actually lit-up grain silos seen against a greenish starry sky.

Today, the origin of the auroras is well-researched. The sun's activity creates solar winds, among other things, which carry electromagnetically charged particles with them. These in turn are deflected by the Earth's magnetic field. Some particles penetrate the atmosphere and produce light when they collide with air molecules.

The northern and southern lights are regularly seen in the polar regions. Indigenous peoples in Lapland, Siberia and Alaska once believed that the mysterious glow in the night would bring them into contact with the gods.

This natural phenomenon also occurs in the southern polar region, where it's known as the aurora australis, or southern lights. If you want to experience the nocturnal veils of light, you usually have to be far away from artificial light sources. At Lake Ellesmere, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from Christchurch in New Zealand, these auroras glowed in a magnificent pink on Tuesday.