Lucky citizens enjoy natural beauty
Last week, Gilmer’s skies pulsed with the beautiful colors of the Northern Lights.
“It was just breathtaking, being able to see them,” Gilmer resident Chris Hefner said.
At first, the colors weren’t visible to the naked eye. But in time, the northern sky started to glow red and green.
Unlike last year, these lights were less of a pulse and more of a glow, he said.
“At first, it was a dull, reddish glow in the sky,” he said. “Then they got more predominant.”
He watched the lights along with his teenage daughters, Kiestern Hefner and Christina Hefner.
The beautiful night was well worth the freezing temperatures.
“We probably were looking at them for about an hour,” he said.
Normally, the Northern lights can’t be seen this far south. But even Florida residents got to experience them this time.
The reason for their appearance was a powerful geomagnetic storm. Charged particles from the sun crashed into earth’s
magnetic fields, creating radiant light.
The sun increases and decreases in energy over 11-year cycles. Right now, the sun is at its strongest, which makes events like this one more likely.
Storms like the one on Tuesday and Wednesday can interfere with satellites, GPS and radio communications.
Even if they interfere with some technology, the Northern Lights are easier to see on cell phone cameras.
Hefner ran down his battery in the cold to see more of the lights. It was a “once-in-a-lifetime” opportunity, he said.
“They would intensify. They didn’t dance across the sky like they did last year, but they would get brighter and then they would dim,” Hefner said.
The lights can be red and green like the ones Hefner and his family saw. They can also be pink, yellow, blue, purple or yellow.
“They’re one of God’s great creations,” Hefner said. “Being able to see all that was real neat.”