It’s a sight to make you stand still in the darkness — scarves of vivid colour rippling across the night sky as if caught in a current.

This spectacle is, of course, the aurora borealis, or northern lights. The name “aurora borealis” is a combination of “Aurora” (the Roman goddess of the dawn) and “Boreas” (the Greek god of the north wind). When the two gods meet, there’s a whole lot of shimmying going on.

According to the Canadian Space Agency, “Auroras occur when charged particles (electrons and protons) collide with gasses in Earth’s upper atmosphere. Those collisions produce tiny flashes that fill the sky with colourful light. As billions of flashes occur in sequence, the auroras appear to move or ‘dance’ in the sky.”

And they can dance all year round — although they are probably best seen in winter, when the night skies tend to be clearer.

Raghuvamsh Chavali knows the phenomenon well. A resident of Guelph, Ontario, he wrote to Nature Canada about a recent sighting of the aurora on the outskirts of his hometown:

In  the early hours of March 24th, 2023, between 12 a.m. and 2 a.m., I was monitoring the aurora forecast website, auroraforecast.com, when I received a notification indicating an aurora activity level of 7/10. As I looked up at the sky, I noticed faint stripes in the distance. I drove towards the outskirts of town and witnessed an awe-inspiring display of the northern lights.

Living in southern Ontario, it’s not often that we get to witness such a natural light show. However, the geomagnetic field was expected to be unsettled to major storm levels, and it did not disappoint. The vivid green and purple hues were mesmerizing and difficult to look away from.

I set up my camera and captured the beauty of the Northern Lights as they danced across the sky. Despite shivering in the cold, I felt grateful for this incredible experience. It was a reminder of the power and majesty of nature and how fortunate we are to witness such rare and breathtaking events.

I am certain that other residents in the Guelph, Cambridge, Waterloo, and Kitchener areas also had the chance to witness this stunning natural phenomenon. I hope that this story can be shared with your readers so that they too can appreciate the beauty of the Northern Lights and understand the importance of preserving our natural environment.

Humans need the night sky, need its humbling beauty, need the rescue of stars to keep us grounded. Living in cities, where night has been diluted by light pollution, we forget how important darkness is to many species. Bats, owls, insects and amphibians all depend on darkness, and many species of birds navigate by the stars.

Thanks for reminding us, Raghuvamsh, that the night sky is as much a part of nature as mountains, forests and oceans!