Photos

An extremely rare red auroras. Those beautifull northern lights occur only once every 11 years when the cycle of geomagnetic storm is at is peak. Next one should start in 2009 and reach is peak in 2012. The 11 year cycle forecast are not so accurate, the last huge geomagnetic storm was in 2001 and the one before was in 1989 ( so 12 years between both). The red color is produce by molecular nitrogen and nitrogen ions from coronal mass ejection which enter in collision with the atmospere. Those collisions excite atoms and molecules in the upper atmosphere and the energy create by this excitation produce light emission.

this aurora borealis appears for 12 minutes in the sky above Blachford Lake in Northwest-Territories
hope that you enjoy it