Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms Northern Lights

Did any of you "Far Northerners" get to see the Aurora Borialis last night?

I would love to travel to the Arctic to see this but what a disappointment if it didn't turn up.

Aurora Borialis

Even though it's currently in a trough of its cycle (back to a maximum in 2025) we see it pretty often here .... not last night unfortunately .... but they were out about 10 days ago and saw them then .... we have an informal 'jungle telegraph' of pals who text round if they see them out ... but it failed last night .... here it's usually the coastal folk that see them the most as they often have big north-facing windows for the view .... us country folk have houses that traditionally face away from the north and its cold winds so they often go unspotted.

K

THE CALM AFTER THE STORM: Earth's magnetic field is quieting after yesterday's unexpected solar wind shock wave impact. Calm has resumed and conditions could remain so for days to come. The sun is blank (no sunspots), the chance of solar flares is very low, and the next solar wind stream is not expected until Jan 18th.

We saw them in Nov 2017 in Iceland. They are stunning. That was a tick off the bucket list.

Unfortunately never seen the Aurora Borialis, but I'm partial to trying to catch and photograph sunsets

Here's a low res snap of one that hangs in our dining room

It was on Jess's bucket list too but we never made it.

A couple of years ago we went on the Hurtigruten (Norwegian mailboat with passengers) in March. We saw the Northern lights on three nights whilst on the 12 day journey. Up until 10pm they broadcast sightings on the ship then after that you can patch the bridge through to your cabin where they will alert if they appear. During the show they use mainly running lights so being out at sea the skies are dark and perfect for watching. From Oct-March they guarantee a sighting & if not will pay for a trip one way the following year.
I can recommend - my idea of hell would be a "cruise" with 5,000 people with whom I have nothing in common. Hurtigruten ships are working ships taking a couple of hundred passengers some of whom are locals using it as a ferry. Food is great, cabins functional and clean and there are trips/excursions offered at various points. Also great value. I am not on commission!

Mrs Image took that with her late mother from Bergen to the Russian border above Vardo ..... both enjoyed it, in spite of her not being a 'cruise' person by any stretch of the imagination .... one of the few 'big boat' trips I fancy sometime.

K

We saw them in Alta in Northern Norway a couple of years ago. We didn’t go on an organised trip but just went up onto the upper deck. There were plenty of dark areas up there. I left in the bar while I went back and fore to check. As they developed we both stayed out to watch them. Green only but amazing. I didn’t get photos unfortunately.
As for sunsets I have several photos from round the lake near the house. I also managed a long exposure photo to catch the International Space Station going over, it shows as a line as it moved. Satellite spotting has been fun. The SpaceX strings of multiple satellites were good.

I tried a few photos but they weren't good. We did the Fjords on a cruise . We chose Fred Olson as the boats are small <1000 passengers.

A great way to see the Fjords but one cruise was enough for me.