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Northern lights provide spectacular show over P.E.I.

Many on P.E.I. flocked to the beach on Friday, but not to go swimming or lie in the sand. They were there to see one of the most vivid displays of light caused by the aurora borealis in decades.

Many headed to coast in wee hours of the morning for best viewing

CBC News ·
Lighthouse under colourful sky.
The lighthouse at Covehead is illuminated under the northern lights. More than 100 people were in the area around midnight to see the spectacle. (Beth Johnston)

Many on P.E.I. flocked to the beach on Friday, but not to go swimming or lie in the sand.

It was around midnight, and they were there to see one of the most vivid displays of light caused by the aurora borealis in decades.

According to the Canadian Space Agency, the northern lights, or aurora borealis, occur when the sun blasts charged particles into space, which is called the solar wind. Earth's magnetic field forms an invisible shield that redirects the solar wind around our planet.

"As Earth's magnetic field protects us from the solar wind, the magnetic field lines are dragged and stretched," the agency says on its website.

"They snap back like an elastic band, launching charged particles down towards Earth's surface along the magnetic field lines Auroras occur when these charged particles launched along Earth's magnetic field collide with gases in Earth's upper atmosphere."

They are best viewed away from city lights, where most of these photos were taken.

Colourful sky.
Trysta MacPhee and her twin sister Trynda White watched the northern lights at Lakeside Beach. (Trysta MacPhee)
Northern lights at Brackley Beach.
The northern lights looked ominous framed in dark trees branches over Brackley Beach. (Jess Davis)
Colourful sky over beach.
Blasts of pink and purple light rain down on Lakeside Beach around midnight. (Emma Gamble)
Northern lights.
The sky was bright between North Rustico and Cavendish at around 1:30 a.m. (Nicola MacLeod/CBC)
Colourful sky with moon.
The view from the Vernon Bridge on the eastern side of P.E.I. (Carolyn Ryan/CBC)
Northern lights over a house.
The northern lights could be seen even within the city limits of Charlottetown. (Jay Scotland/CBC)

 

With files from Shane Ross

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