Aurora Borealis or The Northern Lights, are normally only visible in the frigid 1,550 mile radius from the North Pole. However, this weekend the skies were a technicolor spectacle throughout North America and parts of Europe, even in Georgia.
The Northern Lights are the result of an interplay between the sun, the earth, and the upper atmosphere. Recently there have been intense solar activity, creating the perfect geomagnetic storm in areas rarely graced with such beauty.
The term Aurora Borealis was coined by Galileo in 1619 derived after Aurora the Roman goddess of the dawn, who travelled from east to west announcing the coming of the sun.
Encompassing a wide range of colors, each made up of precise combinations of energy, the lights create a sense of awe, a reminder that our existence isn’t as important as we like to think it is. We may be in control of our small corner of the world, but this isn’t the only place where life exists and it isn’t the most important place in the universe, either.
Witnessing the lights can help us put our small issues in perspective and return to the place of wonder and curiosity we had as children, open to learning new things. They can help us rediscover the wonder of life that many of us have lost due to the daily grind, responsibilities, and pressures of modern-day living.
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