

This amazing image of the aurora borealis - the Northern Lights - shows how the phenomenon can light up the sky near the North Pole. And this weekend is set to be a bumper time for viewing the extraordinary apparition, thanks to unusual solar activity. This picture was taken above Yellowknife, a city in Canada's Northwest Territories.
It was published as part of the AuroraMAX project, an initiative by the Canadian Space Agency which aims to help the public experience the wonder of the Northern Lights. The project has been timed to coincide with the next solar maximum, the period when solar activity reaches an 11-year high, forecast to come in February 2013. The solar maximum causes an increase in the number of sunspots and in the geomagnetic activity which causes the aurora borealis and its South Pole equivalent, the aurora australis.
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