Northern Lights Put on a Spectacular Show in Night Sky

The northern lights recently put on a spectacular show over Sylvan Lake, in Alberta, Canada. Time-lapse images from a photographer named Jeff Smith show how the lights shimmered and glowed, like a celestial curtain. Also known as aurora borealis, the northern lights happen when solar wind, or energized particles from the sun, collide with the earth’s atmosphere, giving off light. The phenomenon is particularly noticeable in high latitude regions of the earth.