Misty Pond Aurora

The northern lights or aurora borealis appear over a misty pond near Yellowknife in northwestern Canada. Aurora, which is mostly seen from polar latitudes is produced by the collision of charged particles from Earth’s magnetosphere, mostly electrons but also protons and heavier particles, with atoms and molecules of Earth’s atmosphere (at altitudes above 80 km). The particles originate from the Sun and reach the Earth in the stream of solar wind. Click on the second photo to see the photographer’s self portrait under the aurora-filled sky of Yellowknife.