Ah, the Northern Lights. Aurora Borealis. Merry Dancers. Whatever you want to call them, you’ve probably heard of this beautiful natural phenomenon, or if you’re lucky, you may have even seen them. And, if you’ve been following the news lately, you’d know that they were supposed to have been visible on July 12th and 13th in places that they’re not normally, like North Dakota, Indiana, Idaho, Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan, and even our own Ohio. And I was not going to miss this. I’m originally from Westfield, Indiana, a fairly large suburb just north of Indianapolis, and I had already been planning to travel there Thursday evening on my way to visit some friends in Michigan over the weekend. So, I made plans with my cousins and high school friends on Wednesday, I arrived in Westfield on Thursday evening, and around 10 p.m., we ventured out in a small, blue, four door sedan to find a place with no light pollution and a quality view of the big, bad Northern Lights. 

Turns out, they weren’t big or bad. Or visible. We actually didn’t see them at all, much to our disappointment. The forecast had changed, and only small parts of the Northernmost states, including Alaska, South Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Maine, were able to see anything at all. I was frustrated, yes, but you should know me by now. My parents once asked me how I come up with my ideas for the blog, and my answer was actually pretty simple. I sit in front of my computer with my eyes closed, replaying the events of the week in my head until I come across something worth writing about. This week, I had no trouble. I mean, I was practically drooling over the topic: a failed expedition to see one of the oldest and most researched astronomical phenomena in history in a state that’s mostly known for corn and car racing? Yeah, that’s going in the blog. 

If you’ve been following along the past 5 weeks, you’d also know that I like science, specifically flatworms and skunk stink. (This might sound weird, but I promise, it’s applicable. Clink the links to read the previous blogs). But today, we’re moving onto, you guessed it, the Northern Lights. And, unless you’re an astrology fanatic, you probably don’t know much about how the Northern Lights emit their, well, lights. According to the Library of Congress, the first thing you should know about the Northern Lights is that they don’t just happen in the north, and they actually have a different name depending on where on Earth, literally, you’re located. In the northern hemisphere, they’re called aurora borealis, but in the southern hemisphere, they’re called aurora australis. Enough of the boring stuff though—let’s get to the meat and potatoes. How are aurora borealis and aurora australis formed? I have to admit, I had to read up on this, and after a 10 minute Google Search, I’m an expert. (Just kidding, but I do know more than I did 10 minutes ago). In brief, the sun emits billions of charged particles called ions toward the Earth, and as a whole, they’re called solar wind. Most solar wind is blocked from hitting the Earth’s surface by the magnetic field surrounding it, but sometimes, a few ions sneak through, inevitably colliding with the oxygen and nitrogen particles from the atmosphere. And, the energy of this collision brings about what we know to be the Northern Lights. 

And, to no one’s surprise, this got me thinking. Auroras are beautiful. They’re a bucket list item. People are attracted to them, and they’re often a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. But I’d bet you money that people don’t know, or don’t care to know, how they’re created. And the kids I work with? Most people probably wouldn’t look at them and think they’ll turn into the next president, or the future director of the CDC, or the next Bill Gates, and they’ve experienced tragedy beyond most peoples’ wildest imaginations. But then again, most people probably don’t think the auroras are made from the profoundly intense and violent bursts of energy that they are. Here’s the catch though: with the right support systems, those kids can turn into great leaders, and that’s why what we’re doing at SVFS is so important. So if you never get to see the Northern Lights, that’s okay. Just remember how they came to be.