LAS TORMENTAS SOLARES DE ABRIL

Click here to read the English version

Los pasados 4 y 22 de abril hubo unas inesperadas tormentas solares. Hasta aquí todo normal, tormentas solares hay constantemente y aquí en La Tierra no pasa nada, Netflix sigue funcionando. Pero aquí en Lake Louise, al estar tan al norte, las tormentas solares razonablemente fuertes hacen que, si la noche está despejada, podamos ver la Aurora Boreal. 

Eran más o menos las dos y media de la madrugada y yo no me dormía. Estaba leyendo el último libro de Pérez Reverte (Falcó, que es muy entretenido) y me di cuenta de que no había desconectado el wifi del móvil. Al ir a hacerlo miré Facebook un segundo y vi que una compañera de trabajo acababa de escribir que se podía ver la Aurora Boreal. Me puse la chaqueta y salí a ver qué tal se veía. En nuestra calle había bastante luz y justo pasaba un tren así que se intuía que había un poco de Aurora Boreal pero se veía fatal así que volví a casa.

Al llegar Marina se despertó y le dije que en principio había Aurora Boreal pero que para verla bien habría que coger el coche y subir hacia el lago. Le faltó tiempo para  ponerse la chaqueta y coger las llaves del coche.

Condujimos por la carretera que lleva al Chateau Lake Louise y nos paramos en el parking que hemos utilizado ya varias veces cuando vamos a hacer esquí de fondo. Desde ahí sí que se veía bien la Aurora Boreal.

Estuvimos un ratito mirando e hicimos alguna foto utilizando un cubo de plástico como trípode y mi gorro de lana como superficie antideslizante. 

Al final resultó ser un fenómeno inusualmente potente y los “Aurora chasers “ (perseguidores de Auroras en castellano) llevan compartiendo sus fotos de esa noche aún hasta hoy.

Enrique & Marina

English version NORTHERN LIGHTS IN LAKE LOUISE

On April the 4th and 22nd we had unexpected solar storms. Nothing abnormal really, there are solar storms constantly and nothing happens down here on Earth: wifi waves still work, TV signal isn’t interrupted and cell phones don’t even notice. But we’re at a reasonably Northern latitude here in Lake Louise and when solar storms are strong enough we can see the Aurora Borealis as long as there aren’t clouds covering the sky (which should be considered an event by itself).

That day Enrique couldn’t sleep. It was about two or three am and he was still reading his book. He realised that his phone was still on wifi and went to turn if off. But of course he checked Facebook first and luckily he saw that one of his friends wrote that the Aurora Borealis could be seen from the village. He put his jacket on and went outside to check how good was the visibility. Our street is pretty bright and there was a train going past at the same time so he could tell that a little bit of the lights could be seen but it wasn’t great. Thus he came back home.

I woke up when he came in and he told me what was going on but that to get a decent view we should probably take the car and go up the road towards the lake. Surprisingly for that time of the night I got really excited and insisted on going up to see the lights. That meant not only getting on the cold car but also putting some decently warm clothes on. 

Enrique drove us up to the Great Divide carpark, about 1 km before arriving to the Chateau Lake Louise. And from there the Aurora Borealis was pretty bright. 

We stare at the sky for a few minutes and Enrique took some pictures using a plastic bowl as a tripod and his woollen beanie as a non-slippery surface for the camera. 

That April 4th and 22nd storms turned out to be of a very unusual kind and the “Aurora chasers” of the area are still showing off their pictures up to this day. 

Enrique & Marina