Canada

I have always dreamed of seeing the Northern Lights. Now, we are living in Canada, there are more chances for this dream to come true. I have seen pictures in magazines and on the Internet. A close friend also shared her pictures last year of seeing some Northern Lights in Edmonton, Alberta. A couple of weeks ago my friends invited me to drive north to see them. We went but it was cloudy, and we didn’t see anything.

According to Discovering the Arctic, the term "aurora borealis" was first used in 1619 by Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei. Galilei named it after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora, and the Greek god of the north wind, Boreas. The Canadian Space Agency describes how auroras form when charged particles such as electrons and protons clash with gases in Earth’s upper atmosphere to create auroras. These collisions cause tiny flashes of colour to fill the sky and billions of flashes happen one after another. The colours can be green, pink, purple and blue. The estimated time to view them is between 10 pm and 2 am.

My retired neighbour who is familiar with space and weather topics suggested checking out the website of the University of Alaska Aurora Forecast and downloading the app My Aurora Forecast. This app helps you to know what places you can see the Northern Lights in Canada and the rest of the world. The map shows you how strong the aurora is, and you receive notifications. I also found a Facebook group called Thunder Bay starchasers. In this group people share stunning night sky photographs and useful tips.

We were camping north to Thunder Bay on Victoria Day long weekend to celebrate my husband’s birthday. On Friday night, I received a notification that there was going to be a high possibility to see Aurora Borealis. Around 11.30 pm one of my friends sent me a picture of an amazing aurora with colours green and purple. They were driving on the highway to chase the aurora. I just jumped from my bed and came outside of the RV and I saw this celestial spectacle, the dance of the green lights in the sky. The best part was I saw them in the company of my husband and my two kids. The sky was very clear, no clouds and you could easily see the constellations and a couple of satellites moving around. It was truly an unforgettable night!