Did you happen to catch the latest light show Mother Nature put on last week?

The Northern Lights lit up the night sky throughout the Sioux Empire again Thursday (October 10) as millions of people all over the world were privy once again to the Aurora Borealis.

The Northern Lights have been on full display this year because the sun is approaching the maximum in its solar cycle.

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Dakota News Now reports the solar maximum is the peak of the sunspot activity during the sun's eleven-year cycle.

A solar cycle tracks the sun’s activity and specifically monitors sunspots on the surface. Sunspots are darker and cooler areas with magnetic fields. When the magnetic fields are aligned correctly there are no solar flares, however, when they begin to become unstable, you end up getting explosions off the sun’s surface and that’s known as a solar flare.

According to the Dakota News Now story, the Northern Lights are created if the energy from those eruptions follows Earth’s magnetic field and interacts with other elements in Earth’s atmosphere.

Once that happens, the result ends up being all those spectacular Red, Blue, Green, Pink, and Purple lights we've been witnessing on so many occasions so far this year.

Your chances of seeing the Northern Lights increase around the solar maximum, and a solar maximum happens when there is more sunspot activity.

As Dakota News Now reports back in July, there were around 220 sunspots, compared to 141 last month in September.

Here's some good news if you're a fan of Mother Nature's celestial light shows, experts say the solar maximum is expected to peak between 2024 and 2026 before reverting to a solar minimum again.

So, as long as the sun stays near solar maximum, there should be plenty more opportunities for you to experience the Northern Lights in the coming months.

Better get your camera ready.

Source: Dakota News Now

Meet 4 South Dakota- Born Super Scientists

South Dakota has produced its share of famous people over the years. Actors like January Jones and Catherine Bach. Media personalities like Bob Barker and Tom Brokaw. Athletes like Brock Lesnar and Chad Greenway. And don't forget Laura Ingalls Wilder.

But, I want to talk about scientists. The super scientists that South Dakota has produced. Here are four that were born in South Dakota. Their work was important to nuclear physics, computer science, and agriculture; and affects us to this day.

Gallery Credit: Ben Kuhns

Seven Mind-Blowing Wonders' of South Dakota

I think most of us have at least heard of the "Seven Wonders of the Modern World." We might not be able to rattle them off as easily as McDonald's value menu items, but chances are you've heard of at least some of them, right?

There's the Great Wall of ChinaChichén Itzá, a Mayan City on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. The ancient city of Petra, in Jordan. Machu Picchu in Peru. Christ the Redeemer Statue in Rio de Janeiro. The Colosseum in Rome, and finally, the Taj Mahal in Agra, India.

Every state in the nation is known for having a series of natural wonders and signature landmarks. So, I thought I would come up with my own list of the "Seven Wonders of South Dakota."

The following is what I consider to be the signature landmarks, monuments, and natural wonders that are synonymous with the great state of South Dakota. I tried to give both sides of the state a little love while comprising this list.

You might have a few additions...
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Let's get started. The Seven Wonders of South Dakota:

 

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