but she's a girl... - Latest Comments in BSAG » Aurora photography

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

bsag — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:53:03 -0000

Thanks - SpaceWeather is wonderful. When I visited just now, there was a big headline at the top "FIREBALL ALERT". Woah!

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

Paul Mison — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 07:36:05 -0000

Oops, cut off for some reason. Maybe I broke my HTML. I was going to say: Graphs like the one on this NASA solar cycle prediction page have large variations.

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

Paul Mison — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 07:33:45 -0000

Spaceweather is probably the best place to watch. As for the phase, the last maxima was in 2001, and the next peak is in 2012; it's an 11 year cycle. Forecasting the strength of a cycle is pretty hard; we've only observed a few full cycles with decent exo-atmospheric methods and only something like 20 with anything resembling modern science, so there's not much to go on. Graphs like the one on

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

bsag — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 15:39:08 -0000

Ah, I see!

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

Jonathan_Briggs — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:22:16 -0000

She recently did a programme for the BBC in which she made her dream trip to see the Aurora.

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

bsag — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 15:00:43 -0000

I'd like to see polar bears too, so that would kill two birds with one stone. Metaphorically, of course, I don't condone bird killing :-)

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

bsag — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:59:54 -0000

Oh wow. Getting a mixture of colours would be brilliant.

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

bsag — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:58:54 -0000

Solar activity is pretty cyclical isn't it? Do you happen to know (or know of somewhere that I can look it up) what phase we're in at the moment?

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

bsag — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:57:40 -0000

Sounds brilliant. I've never been to Scandinavia, but I'd love to.

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

bsag — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 14:57:05 -0000

Unfortunately, no.

Wait, what has Joanna Lumley got to do with auroras? (aurorae?)

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

Martin Polley — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 02:54:49 -0000

I've heard that Churchill, Manitoba is the place where you're most likely to see the aurora. And polar bears, too.

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

Alan — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 19:14:12 -0000

I've seen the Aurora australis, once, when I was a kid. It must have been an unusually strong event, as at the time I was living approximately 45 South. Red and green, like curtains in a breeze. Truly astonishing.

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

Andy — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 18:05:55 -0000

Wait a few years. As solar activity (sunspots) increases so will the aurorae. Then you just need to find a place with a forecast for clear skies and go in winter for long nights.

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

JulesLt — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:02:12 -0000

Package tours seem to be remarkably expensive, but with a bit of searching on the internet, getting flights and a hotel in Tromsø is not too bad, and you have a 50% chance on any night from about mid-October.

We got lucky on the first night with a small display, but nothing on the other 2 nights, even though the skies were clear. You get the fun of walking round in lots of snow anyway . . .

(What's amazing is that the internal flight from Oslo to Tromso takes 2 hours and is near enough straight North).

Re: BSAG » Aurora photography

Jonathan_Briggs — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:38:21 -0000

So you're not Joanna Lumley in real life after all.