The Aurora Borealis at 32,000 Feet

by Kathy Hrechka, MSDC Member

The aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, are a spectacular natural light display caused by charged particles from the sun interacting with Earth's magnetic field and atmosphere. The NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center reported that the Northern Lights would be visible in the Northern hemisphere on May 15-16. 

While flying in the evening from Charlotte to Minneapolis on May 15, I asked our captain prior to departure to alert us if we would be able to view the aurora borealis at altitude. At 10:30pm (45 minutes before landing) I was awakened by the flight attendant. She gave me a message from the captain that the aurora borealis was occurring. At 32,000 feet, the sky was clear with brightly lit stars. We were flying in a western direction, so my window view faced the northern sky. I was grateful the flight attendant woke me up because my view through the window was stunning.   

I was mesmerized by glowing yellow and green colors spanning for miles across the horizon below. Ascending rays of white, green and yellow vertical lights were dancing against the black sky. Then our captain announced to us that we could get a nice view from the right side of the aircraft, so passengers were shifting seats for an entertaining view.

I pressed my Samsung 23 cell phone up against my window and began taking photos. To my amazement, my cell phone picked up hues of purple with dancing yellow and glowing green dynamic lights in the sky. My eyes did not detect purple.

I learned that cameras have sensors that can detect a much wider range of wavelengths than the human eye, including the faint purple. The purple hues in the northern lights come from nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere being excited by charged particles from the sun at very low altitudes.

I hope you enjoy my photos of the aurora borealis from my late-night flight into Minneapolis.