Dazzling Heavenly Light Display

The awe-inspiring northern lights (aurora borealis; in the Southern Hemisphere, the aurora australis) remain one of the mysteries of the skies. Various theories have been offered to explain their appearances.

Currently, the idea seems to be that the lights are seen “when charged particles from the sun strike the upper atmosphere near the magnetic poles.” Green or yellowish-green is the color most often seen, but red, shadings of orange, and even violet have been observed.

Though the lights usually appear as undulating bands or ribbons of light, one dazzling display took the form of a giant celestial dome with arched lines radiating out from a central point directly above the observers and downward to the horizon all around them.

This dazzling light display brings to mind the words of the psalmist when he declared:

“How many your works are, O Jehovah!

All of them in wisdom you have made.

The earth is full of your productions.”​—Psalm 104:24.

[Picture Credit Line on page 31]

Photo by Lee Snyder, Geophysical Institute, University of Alaska​—Fairbanks