Traveler Flying to Chicago Captures Once-In-A-Lifetime View of Northern Lights From Airplane Window
The Northern Lights, also known as Aurora Borealis, are undoubtedly one of the most gorgeous phenomena in the sky. Gazing at the stunning lights is certainly a bucket list adventure. A few lucky passengers aboard a Denver to Chicago flight happened to witness this phenomenon by chance. One of the travelers captured the moment for eternity: Northern Lights captured through an airplane window. The passenger was surprised to witness the anomaly in action out of the blue. The auroras are a display of colorful lights in the sky formed by the "intricate dance of particles and magnetism between the Sun and Earth called space weather," as per NASA. When the charged particles from the Sun come in contact with the molecules of Earth's magnetic field, a stunning blend of colored rays is displayed in the sky.
"When particles from space bombard gases in the atmosphere, they can give the atoms and molecules of the gases extra energy that’s released as tiny specks of light. The color of an aurora depends on the type of gas that is hit," the agency added. FOX Weather interacted with the person who clicked the rare display through his flight window. "Yeah, this was definitely a window seat kind of night. If you’re on the aisle, you’d have missed," said Dr. Ryan French, a solar physicist, an author, and research scientist at the Lab for Atmospheric and Space Physics, who shared the photos on his X account (@RyanJFrench). As someone who researches the Sun for a living, French kind of knew what was going to happen while he was aboard.
"As soon as we took off over the clouds there, I started taking pictures with my phone, waiting for the aurora rush. And your phone will see it before you can," he told the outlet. The scientists admitted that he tried to share his excitement with his fellow passengers, but nobody was as ecstatic as him. Either they were not interested or couldn't see the Northern Lights through the window. Nevertheless, it was a "fantastic" experience for Dr. French. As a scientist, he was expecting to see northern lights, which is probably why he was the only one to notice and capture them. The physicist revealed that the Sun has been active period recently. "Last night we had a strong geomagnetic storm. Tonight again we are expecting a strong geomagnetic storm," he added.
Witnessing the aurora after anticipating it must have been satisfying for the researcher, but the person sitting next to him didn't seem to care much. Firstly, they couldn't properly see the phenomena from their seat in the middle. Secondly, a flight is the least ideal place for anyone to enjoy gazing at the Northern Lights. "Being on the plane, the plane is moving. The cabin lights are on, probably not an ideal situation to be looking at the aurora," he said. "Definitely not an ideal situation, but still really cool to see," he added. Witnessing an aurora so far up in the sky is also surprising because of the light pollution caused by the flight. When asked if the lights were visible to the naked eye, Dr. French revealed that auroras can be seen in light-polluted areas. However, he admitted that it can be "really challenging" if the lights aren't too bright.
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