Londoners got a rare chance to see the aurora borealis overnight Thursday as the colourful, natural phenomenon appeared farther south than usual.
Michelle Dzialakiewicz said she was watching television Thursday when she checked Facebook and saw a couple of aurora lights Facebook groups she belongs to light up with activity.
After checking a live data site to confirm the aurora was visible in the London region, Dzialakiewicz says she travelled just outside the city limits north of London to take in the view between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m.
Dzialakiewicz described the display as “incredible.”
“Yesterday, they were a very faint green and I could see a little bit of pink,” said Dzialakiewicz on Friday, adding it is easier to view the colours through a camera than with the naked eye.
While it was not the first time Dzialakiewicz had seen the northern lights, she says Thursday night’s display was the strongest she had ever seen them this far south.
“You could see them moving in the sky and dancing. But as soon as you put your camera or (held) your cellphone up, the colours come through.”
According to The Weather Network, there is a chance the northern lights could return Friday night in southern Ontario, though it is unlikely the display will be as strong as what was seen Thursday night.
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Both #NorthernLights and #AuroraBorealis were trending on social media Thursday night as Londoners and others took in the rare opportunity to see a view that is typically reserved for the territories and northern edges of the prairies.
Tereza Pultarova, a senior reporter with space.com, says the geomagnetic storm that caused such powerful lights was the strongest on record in six years.
“It was also quite unexpected,” Pultarova told Global News, adding that on a scale of one to five, the storm was a four when expected to be only a two.
Pultarova said the aurora borealis occurs when the sun emits plasma particles through solar wind; sometimes mass amounts of the solar wind are released at once. When those high levels of solar wind reach Earth, the particles interact with the magnetic field, resulting in the colours seen at night.
The National Weather Service of Buffalo tweeted out an image taken from space showing just how wide-ranging the aurora was Thursday.
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