Aurora borealis/Northern lights


Aurora borealis/Northern lights, Alaska

The aurora borealis, or "Northern Lights," an ethereal display of light in the uppermost atmosphere, give their brightest and most colorful displays in the sky above Fairbanks.

For up to one hundred winter nights, the sky appears to shimmer with dancing curtains of color ranging from luminescent greens to fantastic veils that run the full spectrum.

Named after the Roman goddess of dawn, the aurora are caused by an interaction between the earth's magnetic field and the solar wind, an invisible stream of charged electrons and protons continually blown out into space by the innate violence of the sun.

The earth deflects the solar wind like a rock in a stream, with the energy released at the magnetic poles - much like a neon sign.

The Northern Lights are at their most dazzling from December to March, when nights are longest and the sky darkest, but late September can be good for summer visitors.

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