If you happened to be looking up at the sky on Thursday night in Manitoba, you may have been lucky enough to spot a natural light show — the aurora borealis, or northern lights — which could even be seen in the skies over Winnipeg, despite city lights.
Conservationist Heather Hinam told 680 CJOB that we’re in the typical strong season for the colourful phenomenon.
“Churchill does an aurora season every year, usually running from about February to the end of March, but you don’t have to go that far north, as we saw last night,” Hinam said.
“You can just get out of the city for a little bit and get away from the light pollution and have a spectacular show.”
While the lights were visible in the city Thursday night, Hinam said Winnipeggers will typically have a better chance at an aurora sighting if they head north or east of the city.
Locations like Birds Hill Park or Oak Hammock Marsh tend to provide a great viewing experience.
The light show is caused by energy from the sun, said Scott Young of the Manitoba Planetarium.
“That energy has to go somewhere, and it collects up near the North Pole and down near the South Pole, because that’s the way magnets do their thing,” Young told 680 CJOB.
“And that energy makes the air in those areas glow in the dark, so the more active the sun is on a given day, the more motion you have in those lights … and also the farther south they can be seen.
“This was seen all the way down in the United States.”
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