Northern Light in Minnesota & Donegal

A powerful solar flare directed at Earth has put on majestic display of the northern lights across parts of Canada, the U.S and Ireland.

The explosion crashed into Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday allowing people to see the light show as far south as Kansas, Maine and Kentucky.

One lucky photographer managed to catch the aurora as it began. In one photograph, a young Amish man's cart and horse is silhouetted against the luminescent green lights.


A young Amish boy on his way to work at 4:30am looking at the light show on Fuller Road in Easton, Maine. The image was captured by 61-year-old photographer Paul Cyr

In other images pink and green clouds shimmer against a star-speckled skit above a darkened farm.

The stunning photographs of the aurora borealis were captured by Paul Cyr hours before the natural light show was predicted to be visible.

Mr Cyr, 61, had been following a website that tracks the solar flares that create these light shows and alerts people when the aurora may be seen in the sky.


The recent storm has subsided now, but it could flare up again.


The light show above an Amish Farm. The display was created by a powerful solar explosion crashed into Earth's magnetic field on Tuesday allowing people to see the light show as far south as Kansas and Kentucky


Mr Cyr had been following a website that tracks the solar flares that create these light shows and alerts people when the aurora may be seen in the sky

But the photographer from Presque Isle, Maine, caught sight of the aurora that was scheduled for night time very early in the morning.

‘At around midnight I looked out of my window and saw the light show - it came sooner than I thought,' he said.

‘Auroras are unpredictable, but they are expected to show two and a half days after a solar flare.’

As he took photos in Easton, Maine, Mr Cyr spotted a young Amish man admiring the spectacle.


The Aurora Borealis was also seen in the skies near Buncrana in Inishowen, County Donegal this week with this image captured by Adam Rory Porter


Solar flares create auroras when radiation from the sun reaches Earth and interacts with charged protons in our atmosphere. The effects are greater at the magnetic poles and weaken as they move south from the Arctic or north of the Antarctic

Mr Cyr said: ‘The Amish people get up very early to start work and young man had never seen the Northern Lights before.

‘He was blown away by its natural beauty. We stood and shared the moment for a while.’

The Aurora Borealis was also seen in the skies near Buncrana in Inishowen, County Donegal this week with images here captured by Adam Rory Porter.

Solar flares create auroras when radiation from the sun reaches Earth and interacts with charged protons in our atmosphere.

The effects are greater at the magnetic poles and weaken as they move south from the Arctic or north of the Antarctic.


'At around midnight I looked out of my window and saw the light show - it came sooner than I thought,' said photographer Paul Cyr

The intensity and frequency of Northern Lights activity is governed by solar cycles that lasts for 11 years.

Nasa scientists recently predicted that the current period of solar activity will reach a new peak in December.

On an official NASA video, Todd Hoeksema, the Director of the Wilcox Solar Observatory at Stanford University, said that by December there should be what is termed a ‘solar flip’. This is when the conditions for viewing the lights would be at their best. The recent storm has subsided now, but it could flare up again.




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Er Wan Dong - New Discovered Huge Cave in China

Adventurers have stumbled across a cave so enormous that it has its own weather system, complete with wispy clouds and lingering fog inside vast caverns.

A team of expert cavers and photographers have been exploring the vast cave system in the
Chongquing province of China and have taken the first-ever photographs of the natural wonder.

They were amazed to discover the entrance to the hidden Er Wang Dong cave system and were stunned when they managed to climb inside to see a space so large that it can contain a cloud.


The view from a small window in the wall of the vast Niubizi Tian Keng in the Er Wang Dong cave system, where clouds form inside the huge spaces. Three tiny explorers can be seen negotiating the heavily vegetated floor



An intrepid cave explorer ascends a rope hanging from the Niubizi Tian Keng. This photograph is one of the first-ever images taken of one of a cave so large it has its own weather system

Photographer and caver Robbie Shone, from Manchester, was part of a team of 15 explorers on a month-long expedition that discovered the hidden system.

'A few of the caves had previously been used by nitrate miners, at the areas close to the entrance, but had never been properly explored before,' he said.

'All the major passageways were deep underground and had never seen light before.


Explorer Duncan Collis (pictured) climbs a thin rope up to a small ledge overlooking the vast floor surface of Niubizi Tian Keng in the Er Wang Dong cave system. A team of expert cavers have been exploring the caves in the Chongquing province of China



American speleologist Erin Lynch struggles to pull her way across a raging torrent of white water, which is the main river in Quankou Dong. One of the explorers said they had to be aware of high water levels inside the caves, especially when it rained heavily on the surface

'It is always very special, knowing that you are the first to step foot into a cave or somewhere where nobody had previously seen, not knowing what you might find and discover.

'Where else on Earth can still hold secrets and mysteries of discovery? That's what I love so much about exploring.

Mr Shones was particularly excited about the cave network's interior weather system.


The spectacular beddings in the roof of Quankou. Photographer and caver Robbie Shone, from Manchester, was part of a team of 15 explorers on a month-long expedition who stumbled across the natural wonder


The underground camp in Sang Wang Dong is cosy and warm, according to the cavers. Hot food and drink recharge weary and tired explorers who sleep in either suspended hammocks or on roll mats on the floor, before venturing out into the vast surroundings



American speleologist Erin Lynch peers down over her shoulder into a giant void of cloud.The floor is over 240m below and although it cant be seen due to the thick cloud that lingers around her, the echo that reverberates several seconds later reminds her of the volume of empty space and her lofty location

'I had never seen anything quite like the inside cloud ladder before,' he said.

'Thick cloud and fogs hangs in the upper half of the cave, where it gets trapped and unable to escape through the small passage in the roof, 250m above the ground.

'It reminded me of being in an abandoned slate quarrying North Wales in bad weather.

The cave system discovered is not the only one with clouds inside, as humidity rises inside the caverns into colder air to form clouds inside the giant, enclosed spaces.


Large stalagmites at the foot of a giant ascending ramp to another level of development in San Wang Dong create a spectacle mid-way through a section of cave called Crusty Duvets



A giant calcite stalactite boss, dwarfs team member Matt Ryan as he looks up at the giant geological feature

The network, includes 'Cloud Ladder Hall' which itself measures around 51,000 metres squared, while there are rivers and vegetation on the floor of some of its huge caverns.

'Most caves are either accessed by large walking entrance, some require a long deep swim, other may be very vertical in nature where you need ropes to abseil down the walls deep into the caves.

'We had to be aware of high water levels inside the caves, especially when it rained heavily on the surface.

'The drainage catchment to these caves is massive and soon the caves can be extremely dangerous and impassable,' he added.


Duncan Collis and Erin Lynch walk through a section of cave in San Wang Dong called The Sea of Tranquility. Here remains of old Nitrate mining cover the floor in forms of harths - pits and unwanted spoil. One team member said it reminded him of being in an abandoned slate quarrying North Wales in bad weather



An explorer scales the rope up a vertical section of cave known as a pit in Xinu Attic



Crystal clear pools and slow moving streams make it easier to explore Quankou Dongs main river passage in the huge network of caves that have not welcomed visitors in years




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Gokteik Viaduct, Myanmar

The Goteik viaduct, located in Nawnghkio, is one of Burma’s most stunning engineering marvel. Built by the colonial British in the beginning of the 20th century, this spectacular railway bridge is the highest bridge in Myanmar and when it was completed, in 1900, it was the largest railway trestle in the world.

The Goteik viaduct is located in the center of the country about 100 km northeast of the largest city of Mandalay, between the two towns of Pyin U Lwin, the summer capital of the former British colonial administrators of Burma, and Lashio, the principal town of northern Shan State. The rail line was built as a way for the British Empire to expand their influence in the region. Constructed when the country was originally called Burma, the bridge was designed and fabricated by the Pennsylvania Steel Company and shipped overseas.



The viaduct stretches 689 meters from end to end supported by 15 towers. Many sources have put the height of the bridge at 250 meters. This is supposedly a measurement to the river level as it flows underground through a tunnel at the point it passes underneath the trestle. The true height of the bridge as measured from the rail deck to the ground on the downstream side of the tallest tower is 102 meters.

Although larger concrete viaducts and steel cantilever bridges were constructed before and after Gokteik, no other conventional box tower and girder type steel trestle has ever exceeded it in size except for the monstrous Lethbridge Viaduct in Alberta, Canada which is about the same in height but more than twice the length. The Joso bridge in the U.S. state of Washington, the Poughkeepsie bridge in the U.S. state of New York and the original Kinzua viaduct in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania are the only other traditional steel trestles that are equal in size to Gokteik.

Gokteik also had the tallest bridge piers in the world at the time of its completion at 97.5 meters. The current record is now held by France's Millau Viaduct at a record breaking height of 245 meters.

Gokteik bridge can be reached by taking a train from Mandalay or Pyin U Lwin north towards Nawnghkio where the bridge is located about 5 km further east. Crossing the bridge by train is a high-wire act. The bridge is more than a century old, a rather crumbling antique, which adds to the white-knuckle experience. The train moves at walking speed across the bridge to avoid the rocking motion that will further damage the bridge and, possibly, plunge the train into the river below.

The crossing takes about 25 minutes. The slow, high passage give ample opportunities for photos. Once you make the crossing, don’t put away the camera. The northbound train likely will be crossing immediately afterward, giving photographers a chance to catch a shot of a train on the bridge.










A small trestle is located beneath the Gokteik Viaduct and was probably used to bring in materials to build the massive trestle.







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