Auroras over Northern Canada

Explanation: Gusting solar winds and blasts of charged particles from the Sun resulted in several rewarding nights of auroras back in 2014 December, near the peak of the last 11-year solar cycle . The featured image captured dramatic auroras stretching across a sky near the town of Yellowknife in northern Canada . The auroras were so bright that they not only inspired awe , but were easily visible on an image exposure of only 1.3 seconds. A video taken concurrently shows the dancing sky lights evolving in real time as tourists, many there just to see auroras , respond with cheers . The conical dwellings on the image right are tipi s, while far in the background, near the image center, is the constellation of Orion . Auroras may increase again over the next few years as our Sun again approaches solar maximum .