Medicine Hat Astronomy Club member Andrew Keeley captured Thursday night's vibrant aurora borealis on his camera using a 20-second long exposure technique. Keeley took the photo around 10 p.m. Thursday in the area of Township Road 120 and Range Road 55, facing west by northwest.--CREDIT TO ANDREW KEELEY
kking@medicinehatnews.com
Ribbons of colour filled the sky above Medicine Hat, and many other parts of North America Thursday evening into Friday morning as a rare G4 geomagnetic storm brought about a vibrant show of the Northern Lights.
“The last time that there was a storm this strong, was probably about six years ago,” James Paulson, Medicine Hat Astronomy Club secretary-treasurer, told the News.
Paulson explained the phenomenon was caused by a hole on the surface of the sun, which allowed for the release of a solar flare, or large burst of solar radiation, in the direction of Earth.
“Earth has a magnetic field that protects us from the effects of solar radiation,” said Paulson. “But that electromagnetic field is what also causes the Northern Lights to occur – that interaction between the Earth’s magnetic fields and the charged particles of the sun.”
The intensity of the interaction, known as a geomagnetic storm, was significant enough to be seen in regions across North America, though its intensity fluctuated at points.
“It actually started yesterday morning,” said Paulson. “But of course, at that point, you can’t see it because it’s not night time. But there were people who were giving reports they could see it in the twilight. And then, it was mostly subsided by about 2 a.m. (Friday morning).”
Club president Lukas Gornisiewicz said he was delighted to witness the occurrence, as he knows other astronomers and community members were as well.
“It’s not very common to see that at this latitude, where we are in Medicine Hat,” said Gornisiewicz. “So, it’s an awe-inspiring experience to see something like that.”
Gornisiewicz urges those who didn’t get to see or weren’t able to clearly see the Northern Lights to remain hopeful, as March and April are known as the best months for such occurrences. However, he says, predicting when another might occur is difficult; and to complicate matters, is the unpredictability of weather conditions.
“Everything aligned last night,” said Gornisiewicz. “It was clear, there was no moon and when it comes to like this level (G4) of storm, it doesn’t matter where you are, you don’t have to be way up north, (the Northern Lights) come to you.”
