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By Doug Lett
If you’ve been noticing some spectacular northern light shows lately, you are not alone.
Social media has been filled with breathtaking pictures of aurora borealis from across the province — including the north.
And there’s a good reason for that, according to Tim Yaworski, a photographer and member of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada.
“We’re kind of coming into that sweet spot,” he said. “As long as the clouds stay away, we can have some amazing fireworks shows in the evening.”
The northern lights are becoming more active. (Tim Yaworski)
Yaworski explained it’s because the Earth is heading into a solar maximum, a period of time when the sun is most active. A more active sun means more solar storms, which emit the radiation which causes northern lights.
He said the solar maximum follows an 11-year cycle, and is expected to peak next year.
“That’s why we’re seeing not only a greater number of sightings of northern lights, but also a greater intensity of those sightings when they’re happening,” he said.
However, Yaworski cautioned it’s not going to be every night. That’s because the aurora borealis depend on the amount of solar activity.
“It is dependent on the storms happening in the sun, and the storms are not happening all the time,” said Yaworski. “So what I like to tell people is, the next two years, we think we’ve got some really good chances of seeing some really nice aurora, and then it’s going to taper off.”
If you want to see them yourself, Yaworski said there are dozens of apps for smartphones which can tell people when the northern lights are expected to be more active.
He added there are also websites that will do the same thing.
And once you’ve got a time lined up, he said location is important.
“The best advice is to get out of town,” he said. “Get at least five to 10 kilometres out of the city. Find a safe place to pull over … What I generally do is I’ll go off onto a grid road and find a safe spot to pull over … Dress, of course, for the weather and just enjoy the show.”
He added cameras will often do a better job of showing some of the colors than the human eye.
“That’s when you’re going to start to see things like some of those colour shifts as well as the purples, the red, the pink, that sort of thing,” he said.
