WINONA, Minn. – In scientific -sounding Latin with roots in ancient Greek mythology, they’re “aurora borealis.” To most of us who’ve been lucky enough to have experienced them, they’re the Northern Lights. In a seasonal tip of Earth, the polar phenomena will be visible as far south as the Coulee Region this weekend. But conditions must be right:
> Go rural. City lights dim the effect.
> Be in open space. A deep coulee won’t do.
> Hope for clear skies. Clouds obscure.
> Look north. These are polar phenomena.
May you enjoy the show.
Voyageurs National Park. Last year Up North. Image: U.S. Forest Service
The goddess Aurora’s lampposts
Dynamic patterns of brilliant lights appear as curtains, rays, spirals or dynamic flickers. They result from disturbances in the magnetosphere caused by solar wind. Like a prism, these disturbances alter the trajectories of charged particles in the magnetospheric plasma. These particles, mainly electrons and protons precipitate into the upper atmosphere.