Aurora sky leaks (photos)

The Northern Lights – or aurora borealis – appear as bright, swirling curtains of lights in the night sky and range in colour from green to pink and scarlet.

An aurora is a natural light display in ‘s sky, predominantly observed in around the and . The plural form is aurorae or auroras, and they are commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis). Auroras display dynamic patterns of radiant lights that appear as curtains, rays, spirals or dynamic flickers covering the entire sky.

Among the of , aurora australis or (“great torches in the sky”) were lit by ancestors who sailed south to a “land of ice” (or their descendants); these people were said to be ‘s expedition party who had reached the . around the 7th century.

A variety of myths surround the spectacle. The European explorer travelled with Dene in 1771 and recorded their views on the (‘caribou’). According to Hearne, the Dene people saw the resemblance between an aurora and the sparks produced when fur is stroked. They believed that the lights were the spirits of their departed friends dancing in the sky, and when they shone brightly it meant that their deceased friends were very happy.

The aurora australis turned the sky red over Walkaway in Western Australia.