What are Northern Lights? Also known as aurora borealis, the northern lights are formed when electrically charged particles traveling through the earth’s magnetosphere collide with gasses, creating energy in the form of light. The intensity of solar flares influences the intensity and extent of activity within the Auroral oval, the ring-like area above the geomagnetic north where auroral activity is concentrated. The most common color displayed is a brilliant yellow-green, but the aurora borealis can also produce red, blue and purple patterns. [Travel Alaska]
Northern Lights Fun Fact: The northern lights occur about 60-70 miles above the earth’s surface — about 10 times higher than a jet aircraft flies — and can extend hundreds of miles into space. Why is the picture so bad? First of all, pictures don't do it justice, you gotta go see it for yourself. Second of all, this was taken out of an airplane window... so yeah it wasn't exactly the experience I was hoping for but hey, it counts! We tried so hard to catch a glimpse -- We went during the best time of year to see the lights and spent 4 straight nights looking up at the sky but it was always too cloudy. We even went on an overnight Northern Lights Tour to maximize our time under the dark night sky, but to no avail. By our last night, I had given up all hope and accepted defeat as we boarded our red-eye flight back to LAX. With my neck pillow tucked and my eye mask on, I could feel myself gliding into sleep when a small voice came on over the intercom, "For those of you that are still awake, if you look over to the left of the aircraft you can catch a little northern lights show just over the city of Anchorage." Thank god the sleeping pills hadn't kicked in yet.