Northern lights charter flights....

[Fullback]

My old man is on a charter flight this evening out of Bristol to see the Northern Lights...
I've seen them a few times on trips, but are they regular enough to warrant charter trips to see them???
Can anyone vouch for seeing them recently, are we in a high activity time at the moment, are they cyclical or are they always there the further north you go?
If they are a polar phenemenon do you get them at the south pole too??

[Rainboe]

They are seen regularly on night flights across the North Atlantic. They can be amazingly spectacular- mostly green 'drawing curtain' rapidly moving shapes, with fringes of violet in them. I have never seen them from ground level- the many photographs you can find on the net are spectacular, and there are reports that they can be accompanied by a sizzling sound. Over the last couple of days, it has been expected that the Northern lights should be spectacular as there is unexpected and extremely powerful solar sunspot activity causing an outburst of the coronal mass ejection that causes them high in the Earth's atmosphere. I did not see any activity Saturday night. The south polar regions have them as well, but there's almost nobody down there to see them. In short, they are a wonderful, electrifying and atmospheric phenomenon well worth seeing if you have the interest and inclination.
http://www.space.com/spacewatch/aurora_cam.html

[haughtney1]

I've seen them from as far South as GVA at FL380 at times. Also saw them night before last on the way back from Ivalo:ok:

[punkalouver]

They are not always there. Having worked in an area of high activity I can say that sometimes you see them and sometimes you don't. Also, they may be spectacular for a while and then gone.

[Fullback]

Thank you for your replies!!

Having spoken to the old man he was a bit disappointed... 'just a green glow on the horizon...'

My advice to people considering these flights (his was a Christmas present last year) is think about it. It doesn't always say what it does on the tin!!
But of course the operator isn't to blame for this, just extra-terrestrial mother nature!!

[Old Smokey]

It does seem to be a quite good year for them. We had several good sightings over Northern Alaska / Bering Strait a few nights ago. I say several because now you see them now you don't, maybe we should call them leprechaun lights. Of similar interest is the curved ionised glow surrounding them, and realising that it's the top of the atmosphere.
A few cynical passengers thought that they were just city lights, but there was nuthin up there except the North Pole - Santa left the lights on?
Regards,
Old Smokey

[aw8565]

I believe the Northern Lights are the Aurora Borealis and those seen at the South Pole are Aurora Australis....

Someone I know got a FREE seat on one of those flights! But, haha after working a night shift, fell asleep during the climbeout and awoke heading South somewhere over the Midlands on her way back to Gatwick...

[javelin]

Having been involved with several of these, I can report fairly accurately.

It is a lottery as to whether you will get a good view, however, if the operator is good ( sorry, blatant plug - we are ! ), they will allow sufficient time to get north of the Faeroes where you should get a good view if the conditions are suitable.

There are several websites that offer projections as to the location of the Auroral Oval - i.e. how far south the Aurora are visible. This depends on how active the sun is as the Aurora are a result of high energy particles emitted from the sun interacting with the Earth's magnetic field which is concentrated around the poles.

So, armed with the space weather forecast, we set off - the flights are always timed so there is no moon present. Usually there are 2 astronomers on board, they give a running commentary of what is visible in the sky - star wise - and also a comprehensive talk about what the Aurora are and how they change in colour and appearance.

Once up in the area, I personally try and organise a 20 minute free manouevre window from Scottish or Iceland which is usually granted. Then 2 mins East, turn North, 2 mins West, turn North gives everyone a good view before it is time to return.

All legal lights are doused so the pax get as good a view as possible, seats are changed, no flashguns allowed (they check before we get up there !)

I have done 4 or 5 of these flights and we have seen aurora on all occasions, in fact the operator we flew for had done over 30 and had only had 2 failures.

If you get chance, try one of these flights, they aren't dear, the information is very interesting and you get a chance to see one of the most wonderful sights of the night sky.

[Rainboe]

I've seen them plenty from the air, but would like to see them from the ground. As a matter of interest, are the father Christmas flights to Finland any good for them? You arrive in the morning and leave in the evening, and presumably up there it's dark all day, so do they sometimes put on a display during the 'day'?