Self Loading Freight
26th Sep 2009, 13:53
Flying back in seat 50K from SFO on VS20 on Thursday night/Friday morning, our track took us across the north of Hudson Bay. At around 0300GMT, with the cabin lights down and all the blinds closed, I snuck a peek out. There was a superb aurora to the south, apparently just above the wing, and even though the strobe and various reflections from within the cabin made it difficult viewing - I couldn't see any stars - the sight was absolutely enthralling. It continued for at least half an hour, fading in and out, but at its peak it went from horizon to horizon with vast, rippling streamers of white or pale blue light changing faster than anything that size has any right to change.
This is the first time I've seen an aurora, so it was particularly exciting. The urge to wake everyone up was extreme but resistible; I contented myself by confirming with one of the cabin crew that it was what I thought it was (at first, it was mostly just a glow and I didn't want to be mistaken - the full-on curtains of light came later), and a few people in nearby seats overheard and got their own eyefull.
The sun's been extraordinarily quiet of late - some solar physicists think we may be about to enter a prolonged period of few sunspots similar to the Maunder Minimum of 1645-1710, which rather worryingly coincided with the Little Ice Age, so I'm doubly thrilled by catching this one.
How common are auroras visible from flight like this? Should I be looking out more often? The only other comparable spectacle I've seen was a couple of years ago flying back at night from Beijing in late February, where a huge storm system off the Egyptian coast produced a vast line of thunderstorms that were nearly constantly lit up from within by lightning - which I subsequently discovered are called Chinese Lanterns.
If it looks that good from the back of the aircraft, I can only imagine what the view from the flight deck is like.
This is the first time I've seen an aurora, so it was particularly exciting. The urge to wake everyone up was extreme but resistible; I contented myself by confirming with one of the cabin crew that it was what I thought it was (at first, it was mostly just a glow and I didn't want to be mistaken - the full-on curtains of light came later), and a few people in nearby seats overheard and got their own eyefull.
The sun's been extraordinarily quiet of late - some solar physicists think we may be about to enter a prolonged period of few sunspots similar to the Maunder Minimum of 1645-1710, which rather worryingly coincided with the Little Ice Age, so I'm doubly thrilled by catching this one.
How common are auroras visible from flight like this? Should I be looking out more often? The only other comparable spectacle I've seen was a couple of years ago flying back at night from Beijing in late February, where a huge storm system off the Egyptian coast produced a vast line of thunderstorms that were nearly constantly lit up from within by lightning - which I subsequently discovered are called Chinese Lanterns.
If it looks that good from the back of the aircraft, I can only imagine what the view from the flight deck is like.