Every so often, Mother Earth takes it upon herself to remind us that awe and wonder are every bit as important as Vitamin C, laughter, and a balanced checkbook. Recently, she outdid herself with a light show that enthralled people from British Columbia to Florida. Those who missed the show because clouds obscured the view tried not to express their deep disappointment as they did their level best to live vicariously through the colorful images being posted by their friends, acquaintances, and friends of acquaintances (and even total strangers) on social media.
We were among those who were fortunate to have mostly clear skies that allowed us to appreciate the dancing light show. While there were some patchy clouds in the northern skies, they actually provided some interesting contrast that made things feel even more surreal.
The last time we were able to view the Northern Lights at the farm was just over one year ago. At the time, both Tammy and I agreed that was the best viewing of the aurora we had seen in our lifetimes. Like this event, forecasters suggested that conditions were right for a significant solar storm to hit Earth. Because Tammy and I both appreciate this sort of thing, we were paying close attention to the potential for cloud cover. Whenever clear skies and a strong prediction for aurora borealis coincide, we do our best to make time and space in our lives to see what we can see - even if it is, all to frequently, a lot of nothing.
This was not nothing.
Unlike last time, I was actually more prepared to use our better camera (rather than just relying on the cell phone). The hardest part is figuring out how much exposure time to provide. When it comes to photographic images, I tend to be a purist. I want to record what I am seeing. But, of course, I wasn’t seeing anything as bright or colorful as the pictures show.
First, human eyes are not built to see color in dark situations. Our vision uses rod and cone cells to sense light. The cone cells detect color in light/daytime situations. Rod cells can detect faint light sources at night, but they only work in shades of gray. It takes a very strong aurora to get bright enough to activate the cone cells that detect color. During a typical Iowa Northern Lights show, we’re not going to see much color - with green being the most common if we’re going to see any at all.
That tells me something about the recent show because I was seeing reds, greens, yellows and purples at times. Of course, they weren’t as bright to my eyes as they appear in the pictures I am sharing. In addition to my eyes’ limitations, cameras also use extended exposure periods to collect more light to make the image. You can think of it as if our cameras are collecting several moments in time and superimposing them over each other.
And, if none of that interests you, it’s fine. You can just enjoy the pretty pictures!
Timing plays a significant role in actually seeing Northern Lights. They can be nothing much at 10:30 PM and then ridiculously wonderful at 3:30 AM. This time around, I could see a few beams of the aurora even before the sky had darkened after sunset. As a result, there was a strong show at a time when most people were awake and anxious to view it. In 2023, many people gave up on what turned out to be a very nice show because they did not appear until 11:30.
This year, the show started out strong. But, while it faded around 11:30, it picked up again in the middle of the night. Tammy happened to be up at that moment and claims that she tried to wake me. Being a typically light sleeper, I’m not sure I entirely believe that. But, at least she went outside and took a few images with her cell phone’s camera.
At this point in the show, the action was directly overhead. This is particularly interesting for us in Iowa because it’s exceptional to see the aurora at any time. And, when we do, it is usually confined to the northern skies. These were so strong that a camera lens was not needed to see a wide range of color - though the camera, with its extended exposure time, certainly enhanced the color further.
My favorite of Tammy’s images is shown below:
Northern Lights are created by energized particles from the sun hitting Earth’s atmosphere and exciting oxygen and nitrogen particles to create color. According to this article (on Space.com), green is the most common color and is the easiest for the human eye to see. Green is created when oxygen molecules 60 to 190 miles from the surface of the Earth are excited by the Sun’s particles.
Red colors are also created by oxygen particles, but these are higher in the atmosphere. On the other hand, blues and purples are the result of excited nitrogen particles, which comprise 78% of the atmosphere (oxygen is 21%). Yellows and pinks are apparently a mixture of the other colors, at least according the article I linked in the prior paragraph.
I guess it makes some sense that our excitement for viewing pretty colors in the sky is dure to the excitement of oxygen and nitrogen particles. One excitement deserves another… or so they say.
And no, I don’t know who “they” are, nor do I know why “they” might say it.
While Friday night’s show was the highlight, we were actually blessed with another showing early on Saturday night. This one was fairly brief. So, of course, the extra time I took running back INTO the house and up the stairs to get the memory card for the camera made all the difference for the images I could collect.
Saturday’s show featured a ring with spikes in the Northern skies. By the time I got out there (the second time), the lights were already fading. But, to assure you all that I’m not just a photo hound, I took a while just looking at it through the screen windows in our house. I actually had to jolt myself into action to go outside and bring the camera. In fact, I believe Tammy made the suggestion.
I did, however, think to take a quick camera shot through the screen. While it’s not very good, it shows you that there was some strength to the aurora. There’s no surprise that the primary color here is green. But, there is some hint of purple above the green.
Then, believe it or not, the clouds broke up on Sunday and what should we see out the window yet again?
No, it wasn’t Santa Claus.
We had a very faint showing of Northern Lights yet one more time. If you look at the photo below, you’ll see the reflection of town lights on the bottom of the clouds to our north. But, above those clouds, you will see the glow of the aurora borealis.
This last event might be more typical of what we might see in Iowa for Northern Lights. They can easily be mistaken for city lights and they rarely have any color that will register with eyesight. There might be a little purple picked up with the cell phone on this one, but that’s about it.
Because we do live in the country and the town to our north is pretty small, we can sometimes see these less audacious displays. And, we acknowledge them and appreciate them. But, it sure is hard to give them more than a passing nod so soon after the big Friday event.
Mother Nature was not done with encouraging us to exercise our awe and wonder muscles this past weekend. As we were traveling after visiting my own Mother, we got to chase a rainbow home!
It started as a very bright, but short, pillar. As we traveled, the pillar got taller. Then, a second pillar to the south appeared and eventually it connected with the first pillar to form a full rainbow - if only briefly.
In order to see a rainbow in the first place, me must place ourselves in the perfect position to hit that 42 degree angle necessary to view it (51 degrees for the secondary rainbow - you can see a hint of one in this image to the left). The sun has to be low enough in the sky to facilitate that angle in the first place (it can’t be higher than a 42 degree angle over the horizon and the lower it is, the taller the rainbow can be). And, of course, there have to be water droplets!
With our backs to the sun, we can project where a rainbow could be by viewing our shadow and calculating angles off of the center line of that shadow. If we follow a 42 degree angle to either side, we can locate the possible location of the base of a rainbow. Because we were moving, the rainbow appeared to move with us because …
well…
our shadow was moving with us.
How’s that for a not entirely “sciency” explanation for why rainbows appear to move with you? Maybe I’ll write a blog on rainbows in the future and do a better job of it. But, for now, when someone asks you why rainbows seem to move when you move, you can just say it’s because the rainbow is attached to your shadow and it can’t get away!
Have a fine remainder of your day. I wish for you opportunities to experience awe and wonder in your life and I hope you find the energy and patience to allow yourself the chance to enjoy those moments.
How wonderful!