This camera lets you experience the northern lights, minus the freezing temperatures

The northern lights.
(Image credit: Courtesy of Explore.org)

It's a bone-chilling -18 degrees Fahrenheit in Churchill, Manitoba, where the northern lights are making a dazzling display in the sky. For those not up to braving such temperatures, a single camera is bringing the natural phenomenon to viewers around the world.

Tuesday is the best forecast of the year for auroras borealis, and Explore.org is broadcasting live footage through the night. Charles Annenberg Weingarten, founder of Explore.org, said seeing the northern lights is part of "a universal bucket list for all of us," and through the website, people can watch "in the comfort of your home with your extended family."

The sun has several magnetic fields, and when they become knotted together, they create sunspots. When particles of plasma escape into space, it takes about 40 hours for that solar wind to reach Earth, Space.com explains, and once the particles arrive, they are drawn to the magnetic south and north poles. The gorgeous lights of the aurora borealis are caused by the particles passing through the Earth's magnetic shield and mixing with atoms and molecules of oxygen, nitrogen, and other elements. Visit Explore.org to take in this beautiful sight.

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Catherine Garcia

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.