Patterns of the North: Aurora and Snowflakes
Aurora Borealis and Snowflakes fill Northern skies with phenomenal sights. Glowing displays of bands, arcs, and curtains are created when charged particles from space collide with atoms in our upper atmosphere. Snowflakes form when ice crystals fall through varied temperature zones in the earths atmosphere and conglomerate into intricate structures. Complex flake shapes and structures emerge in relation to temperatures during formation. Check out some electric skies and intricate ice in the photos below and above in time lapse made in the northernmost Scandinavian lands.
“A multicolored blade of light seems poised to strike over a snowy forest in Ivalo, Finland on January 22.”
“Peaks and valleys ripple across the ceiling of an ice cave in Bavaria, Germany.”
“The sky over Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, churns with light from an aurora borealis.”
“Dendrite snowflakes first occur when the temperature hovers between 30 degrees Fahrenheit (-1 degree Celsius) and 27 degrees Fahrenheit (-3 degrees Celsius).”
“An aurora borealis gives the distant horizon an otherworldly appearance in Siberian Russia on January 8.”
“A snowflake’s shape depends on the temperature at which it forms. This type of snowflake, called a sectored plate, forms when the temperate dips below about 5 degrees Fahrenheit (-15 degrees Celsius).”
“An aurora borealis sends ribbons of yellow-green light through the sky over northern Canada.”
“A snowflake appears translucent when photographed up-close.”
“Northern lights arch above the treeline in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada.”
An engineered snowflake
Part of the new year’s first big display of northern lights, an aurora borealis appears to dip into the mountains near Tromsø in northern Norway on January 7.
“Fractures create ribbon-like patterns in thick ice on Ellesmere Island, Canada.”
“A cascade of rose-tinted light surges through the sky in an aurora borealis over northern Canada.”
Photo Credit: National Geographic
Hello,
I was wondering if you could please tell me where you got the photo for ““The sky over Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada, churns with light from an aurora borealis.” I’m doing a project for the Northwest Territories and we’d really like to use that photo in our interpretive exhibit.
Thank you very much!
Cathryn Bingham
Vancouver, BC Canada