Image credit: Mikayla Brusse

By Marty Hastings

AURORA BOREALIS

Amateur astrophotographer captures Aurora Borealis from Barnhartvale backyard, describes euphoria

May 12, 2024 | 9:17 AM

KAMLOOPS — Amateur astrophotographer Mikayla Brusse attempted to describe the state of bliss she experienced while watching the Aurora Borealis on Friday (May 10) from her Barnhartvale backyard.

“Honestly, just euphoric,” said Brusse, noting it was her first time seeing the Northern lights. “Just ecstatic amazement and wonder of Earth. Every time I’m outside taking photos, I think it’s crazy how we live on this planet that is so unique.

“We have so much life and so much beauty. Meanwhile, almost every other planet we know of is not habitable in any way. And we just have these pretty lights in the sky.”

Casual stargazing about two years ago led to research and a desire to pursue a degree in astrophysics, with Brusse planning to study the stars next year at the University of Victoria.

“This was the absolute best one to see,” Brusse said. “There is not going to be another one like this in quite a few years probably.

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“I think humans are adorable, how we all go outside to watch the pretty lights. It’s just really nice and peaceful and serene and beautiful.”

AN EXPLANATION

Brusse offered insight on Aurora Borealis.

“I believe the simplest explanation would be when the sun undergoes a strong coronal mass ejection facing Earth, the charged particles emitted interact with Earth’s magnetosphere, creating light. The most common aurora colour is green, which occurs when these particles hit concentrated areas of oxygen at altitudes of 100 kilometres to 300 kilometres.

“What makes last night’s (Friday) aurora so special is the rarity of seeing so many colours, especially at a 50-degree latitude. Usually, one would have to travel much further north to see the rare red aurora, but we had a perfect view last night. It was genuinely the best aurora we could get at this latitude.”