Awesome Time Lapse of the Northern Lights Captured in Riverton

One of the most beautiful natural light displays in Earth's sky was recently captured on video in Riverton, Wyoming.

The Northern Lights, also known as "aurora borealis" was visible last on Sunday evening.

The official US National Weather Service Riverton Wyoming Facebook page shared a awesome still as well as a link to a short time lapse video loaded to their YouTube channel.

The video was filmed last night (Sunday, August 11th, 2024).

Wikipedia describes the phenomenon as:

Auroras are the result of disturbances in the Earth's magnetosphere caused by the solar wind. Major disturbances result from enhancements in the speed of the solar wind from coronal holes and coronal mass ejections. These disturbances alter the trajectories of charged particles in the magnetospheric plasma. These particles, mainly electrons and protons, precipitate into the upper atmosphere (thermosphere/exosphere). The resulting ionization and excitation of atmospheric constituents emit light of varying colour and complexity. The form of the aurora, occurring within bands around both polar regions, is also dependent on the amount of acceleration imparted to the precipitating particles.

If you have video footage or photos, feel free to share them via the station app or on the Facebook page.