Aurora – Esc@peWithNicki

Chasing the Aurora

When the Night Sky Comes Alive

The northern lights have a way of making you pay attention to the sky. Sometimes they’re bright enough to see with your own eyes, while other times they’re so faint that a camera reveals colors and details you might otherwise miss.

The aurora borealis, commonly known as the northern lights, occurs when charged particles from space interact with Earth’s magnetic environment. Energy transferred into the upper atmosphere causes oxygen and nitrogen to emit light, creating the colorful displays we associate with the aurora.

Green is the most familiar color, but auroras can also appear red, purple, pink, and occasionally blue. The colors depend on which atmospheric gases are involved, their altitude, and the energy of the interactions.

Although the northern lights are most commonly associated with places like Alaska, Canada, and Scandinavia, strong geomagnetic storms can push visible auroras much farther south. That means even Colorado occasionally gets a chance to see the show.

The Reality of Chasing the Aurora

Unlike a solar or lunar eclipse, the aurora doesn’t follow a predictable schedule. Space-weather forecasts can tell us when conditions might be favorable, but they can’t guarantee when or where a display will appear.

Clouds, moonlight, light pollution, and the timing of geomagnetic activity all influence what we can see. Sometimes the conditions look promising and nothing happens. Other times, the sky surprises us. For me, that’s part of the experience. There’s the anticipation of watching space-weather conditions, deciding whether it’s worth heading outside, and hoping the sky cooperates.

The photographs below are from different nights when I went looking for the aurora. Each event has its own story, its own conditions, and sometimes a few surprises along the way.

January 19, 2026 — Ramah State Wildlife Area, Calhan, Colorado