Duluth Photographer Captures Amazing October Northern Lights Activity

At our house, we have a couple of things that we'd like to see at some some point. The first is a moose out in the wild, in their natural habitat, from a safe distance of course. The second is a clear, awe-inspiring view of the Northern Lights. While I've seen glimmers of aurora borealis through the years, I've have yet to have a true "wow" experience.

Recently, the Northern Lights made an impressive display for the Northland and some were lucky enough to be in the perfect position to capture the activity. One such person was Duluth native Steve Regas, who happened to be near Minnesota's Boulder Lake on October 17 to witness some very cool activity.

This week, Regas shared his terrific photos on his Facebook page, and I reached out to ask him if I could share them with everyone. Full disclosure, Steve is an old friend of mine from much crazier times in our lives and he was happy to share his photos.

According to The Northern Lights Centre:

The Northern Lights are actually the result of collisions between gaseous particles in the Earth's atmosphere with charged particles released from the sun's atmosphere. Variations in colour are due to the type of gas particles that are colliding. The most common auroral color, a pale yellowish-green, is produced by oxygen molecules located about 60 miles above the earth.

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Northern Lights can be seen in the northern or southern hemisphere, and scientists have learned that in most instances northern and southern auroras are mirror-like images that occur at the same time, with similar shapes and colors.

Have you had an amazing experience viewing the Northern Lights? One trip my wife and I would love to take soon is to Norway to not only attempt to get an unsurpassed view of aurora borealis, but to go on a guided trek into the Norwegian villages, fjords and more.

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