Northern Lights

[Nigel PAX]

I know this is very old hat to experienced pilots in northern latitudes, but as a frequent passenger, I was miffed never to have seen the Northern Lights. Consequently, I was delighted when the CSD on a SFO-LHR flight recently approached me to suggest I open the blinds to watch the sights. Given that I was on the south side of the plane, I was also very surprised.

The view of the sky from the low-set windows in the upper deck isn’t great, so I was pleased when the pilots agreed to a (now rare) flight deck visit, where the view was great. But why do pilots never alert passengers to the view?

As a side note, I was also surprised that the nubile F/As (well, it was Virgin) had never even heard of the phenomenon.

[Notso Fantastic]

I have stopped the movies to show nature's great free light show when it was exceptional, as well as pointing out the wonders of the glaciers of Greenland. Very well appreciated, but one has to be careful, 400 people all straining to see causes a lot of disruption, and I'm afraid even very few cabin crew have witnessed the phenomenon. I wish we could show more, but one has to be careful about pointing out things outside- only the 3 seats by a window can see.

[SEATSELLER]

I saw it sunday on NW. They made a special annoucment.

Its something else init

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Feet on the Ground.
Heart in the Air!

[EDDNR]

The reason we don't make an announcement is that the aurora can only be seen at night and waking up 400 people is not considered good PR in my airline.

Rod

[Nigel PAX]

We were at 61N on Saturday night, and I was surprised that the sights were due south of us. Is this normal? I've always assumed that they were far to the north.

[fly4fud]

Hey, I'have been longing to see those for years now!
We have some late flights to GOT, arriving there around 2200 local time. Any of the locals care to tell me if there is any chance of seeing the great show? Any season for that? Special meteorological conditions? Is GOT far enough to the N to watch the magical show?

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... cut my wings and I'll die ...

[Pandora]

Have only seen them once, on the way to Scotland (don't get many polar routes on a 737). Made an announcement and first all the FAs came up and oohed and aahed, then a constant stream of passengers. I had a fantastic show of green lights for over half of the flight and one a/c full of very happy pax.

[Speedbird48]

I have seen them many times over the years and have been on the North side of them as well at times.
As has been stated, waking the screaming hordes in the back is not a good idea and also not appreciated by the cabin crew.
I have always made a point of getting the boys and girls from the back to come up front to come and see them.
I also spent some time in Labrador and when you get away from light and noise they are even more wonderful, and can be heard.
A truly wonderful part of nature that we, as aviators, have the priviledge of seeing.

[Speedbird48]

I have seen them many times over the years and have been on the North side of them as well at times.
As has been stated, waking the screaming hordes in the back is not a good idea and also not appreciated by the cabin crew.
I have always made a point of getting the boys and girls from the back to come up front to come and see them.
I also spent some time in Labrador and when you get away from light and noise they are even more wonderful, and can be heard.
A truly wonderful part of nature that we, as aviators, have the priviledge of seeing.

[SKYDRIFTER]

AURORA BOREALIS -

This should be an exceptional year for the Aurora, as peak sunspots are forecast. The colors & 'motion' to the lights should also be exceptional. With peak solar activity, it also means that the Aurora will be visible at lower latitudes.

[angels]

Seen them just the once. Awesome! And many thanks to the re-basing Nigel who a) alerted me to them and b) arranged for me to see them from the flight deck.
One question though, how can you hear them?

[EPCronk]

Check out www.gi.alaska.edu (http://www.gi.alaska.edu)
Forecasts based on sun activity and meteoroligical conditions. Plus an explanation of what the Aurora Borealis is. You see this phenomenon a lot when based in Anchorge... What a sight!

[flapsforty]

What a fantastic sight it is!!
saw it last night when driving home and stopped the car to look and wonder at the beauty of it.

Nigel Pax, many pax get very annoyed if they are woken up at night for something as "boring" as the aurora borealis. I know; when I was a young and innocent FA ;) I once tried to share my enthusiasm for the fairy tale light show outside with some of the sleeping businessmen on the upperdeck. Didn't go down very well, so haven't dared to do that again in the 19 years since. http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/frown.gif

As to FA's not knowing about them; what can i say? Last time in Beijing we were discussing Mao's little red book in the crewbus. Only the Captain and myself had ever heard of that too. http://www.pprune.org/ubb/NonCGI/eek.gif
But I digress........... :)

Nice to know this year is going to be a good one for the "Dancing Fairies" !!

[Covenant]

I saw what I thought were the Northern Lights once in the middle of a 15 hr BA flight from LHR to OSA. No one pointed it out, I just woke up and peeked out the window and thought: "Hmm... that doesn't look much like a cloud formation".

When I saw it, it wasn't brightly coloured, but it was a bit like looking down and across the funnel of a vast tornado, except that there was no circulation, just this shimmering whitish curtain streaking down towards the base of the funnel. I immediately assumed it was the Northern Lights because it appeared to be taking the exact shape of the magnetic field lines as they dive into the magnetic pole.

Has anyone else seen this kind of display? How else does it appear? Was it really the Aurora Borealis that I saw?

Would love to hear more details and descriptions of what people have seen and experienced of it.

[This message has been edited by Covenant (edited 07 March 2001).]

[Mega]

F4fud and everyone else!

Yes you could see it over GOT, in fact just a couple a weeks ago, i saw a really spectacular Northern lights over GOT, one of the best i ever seen. And i have been doing nightfligts in northern Scandinavia 64-66N for several years and seen them quite often.

They can be shaped very differently and in many colors but the most common i have seen is white /green and a little purple sometimes red maybe and shaped like hanging drapes (both up and down) constantly changing form!

/M

[ExSimGuy]

Angel,

You hear them on the radio. The Aurora reflects radio signals and I have heard vhf from Russia coming in (at ground level) in S.England. The signal has a very distinctive "growling" sound.

Radio "hams" use this method of anomalous propogation (and many others!) to make contacts over "theoretically impossible" distances.

(G8ILJ)

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What goes around . . .
. . often lands better!

[The Hooded Claw]

The stronger the emmisions from the sun that cause the aurora, the further south they tend to move, forming a ring around the pole. That explains why they sometimes appear to be to the south.

As has been pointed out, we are at the peak of the suns activity at the moment, so the frequency and strength should be good. It is visable more often than you think whilst flying, although it is usually just a faint glow to the north. The best I have seen around the UK was on the ground last spring. Multi-coloured streaks met at a point to the south, producing a red cloud overhead. The light was bright enough to wake birds, which began singing - very spooky!

[Bush Driver]

If ever in CANADA the best times to see them are April and September.

But they have been in full force for past month, seen them hundreds of times, never get tired of it.