The beautiful natural phenomenon of the aurora borealis has fascinated people since time immemorial. This is probably why pictures or videos showing an incredible green light never fail to catch people’s attention. An example is a series of pictures posted on Instagram showing the aurora borealis in Alaska. The National Park Service posted the images on its Instagram page. They also shared a detailed description of the auroras. “‘The Aurora Borealis!? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, located exclusively in your kitchen!?’ – Super Nintendo Chalmers,” they wrote, referring to the classic Simpsons gag.
“Denali is a great place to see the aurora borealis because it’s in the far north and because there’s very little light pollution. Light pollution occurs in cities, towns and other developed areas where excessive artificial light brightens the natural environment,” they added.
“The most common color we see in the #NorthernLights, aka Northern Lights, is green. When the solar wind hits millions of oxygen atoms in the Earth’s atmosphere at the same time, the oxygen atoms are excited for a time and then decay back to their original state, emitting the green hue that we can see from Earth. Have you seen the Northern Lights in person?,” they explained.
Since being shared nine hours ago, the post has amassed nearly 98,000 likes and counting. People also took to the share comment section to add various comments. “I saw the Northern Lights in upstate New York when I was 14. It was like a giant white cage that surrounded me and my cousin as we paddled across the lake,” the Instagram user wrote. “Breathtaking beauty… nothing like mother nature,” commented another. “We’re going to Alaska in January to see the Northern Lights! Definitely top of my list,” wrote a third.
