'Photon bliss': Sask. astronomy enthusiast says Monday’s northern lights 'a gift'
The skies put on a dazzling display Monday night with the aurora borealis lighting up most of central and northern Saskatchewan.
Amateur astronomer Ron Waldron says the conditions were perfect for the display, which appeared around 9 p.m. and got the most spectacular at 10 p.m.
He referred to Monday’s show as “photon bliss.”
“What made this one special was the strength of the coronal mass ejection and the fact that we had a clear sky and the moon had set at the time of the display. The moon tends to wash out fainter aurora, but it was already setting as this display started,” Waldron told CTV News.
The astronomy aficionado said the rare sighting happens when the solar wind is being ejected from the sun and then interacts with the upper atmosphere and the oxygen atoms fluoresce.
What we can see from earth is the interaction of the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field.
Only those north of the 49th parallel get to witness it, making it more elusive and special, according to Waldron.
“Every display is different. It’s even better than looking at a kaleidoscope because even displays repeat themselves in a kaleidoscope.
“Every time you see the Northern Lights, the shapes are totally different as they follow the magnetic lines of the magnetic field,” he says.
This display featured mostly auroral arcs which are U-shaped displays with some Aurora bands which are vertical spikes.
He says NASA put out an alert about 48 hours prior to Monday night, allowing him time to set up his equipment.
Waldron says this illuminating show was fast and while it could be appreciated by the naked eye, high tech digital equipment was able to capture the beauty in even more detail.
Saskatoon had a brilliant display to watch, but the show got even better further north because it’s higher in the sky, according to Waldron.
He says the last big display was in 2015 around the same time of year, but it was not as accessible as this one because it happened at 4 a.m.
“Last night was a gift because you didn’t have to wait up so long. It occurred when everybody was up and the skies cleared up,” he said.
Waldron says the show continue Tuesday night between 9 p.m. and 4 a.m. but likely won’t be as impressive.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Quebec nurse had to clean up after husband's death in Montreal hospital
On a night she should have been mourning, a nurse from Quebec's Laurentians region says she was forced to clean up her husband after he died at a hospital in Montreal.
'Anything to win': Trudeau says as Poilievre defends meeting protesters
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is accusing Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre of welcoming 'the support of conspiracy theorists and extremists,' after the Conservative leader was photographed meeting with protesters, which his office has defended.
Bank of Canada officials split on when to start cutting interest rates
Members of the Bank of Canada's governing council were split on how long the central bank should wait before it starts cutting interest rates when they met earlier this month.
Northern Ont. lawyer who abandoned clients in child protection cases disbarred
A North Bay, Ont., lawyer who abandoned 15 clients – many of them child protection cases – has lost his licence to practise law.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
What is changing about Canada's capital gains tax and how does it impact me?
The federal government's proposed change to capital gains taxation is expected to increase taxes on investments and mainly affect wealthy Canadians and businesses. Here's what you need to know about the move.
Police tangle with students in Texas and California as wave of campus protest against Gaza war grows
Police tangled with student demonstrators in Texas and California while new encampments sprouted Wednesday at Harvard and other colleges as school leaders sought ways to defuse a growing wave of pro-Palestinian protests.
Something in the water? Canadian family latest to spot elusive 'Loch Ness Monster'
For centuries, people have wondered what, if anything, might be lurking beneath the surface of Loch Ness in Scotland. When Canadian couple Parry Malm and Shannon Wiseman visited the Scottish highlands earlier this month with their two children, they didn’t expect to become part of the mystery.
Pilot reported fire onboard plane carrying fuel, attempted to return to Fairbanks just before crash
One of the two pilots aboard an airplane carrying fuel reported there was a fire on the airplane shortly before it crashed and burned outside Fairbanks, killing both people on board, a federal aviation official said Wednesday.