We grew up in Alaska, but don't currently live there. Long for the lights every winter.
Watching people see the auroras for the first time -- especially those who thought they would never see them -- has been such a surprising and wonderful boost to the spirit.
Growing up under them was formative in ways I can't put to words, and I'm so glad more people have had a bit of that experience.
Most extreme #SolarStorm in 20 years brings beautiful #Northern#Lights. Photos taken from all over the world show bright-colored skies across Europe, New Zealand and in the U.S., where it was visible farther south than usual.
Nature's spectacle unfolds as a solar storm supercharges auroras visible from homes across the US, UK, Canada, Germany, Poland, Switzerland, France, Ireland, and other European nations.
Suddenly woke up (02:30 here) and checked the Aurora Watch app and it showed a huge red line! So took a walk with OH along the footpath and for the first time in our lives for either of us, we saw the aurora!
My rubbishy phone didn't pick up any of it but my eyes did and I'm so happy! I just never expected to see it this far south (East Anglia, UK). It's beautiful!
You don't see auroras every day over Helsinki, but today's solar storm is really strong. With naked eye it doesn't look quite this colourful, but phone camera sees the sky this way.
Looking at my list of auroras from airliners, flights 5/13 have been in March (or early April). But of the 13, 6 were on SOFIA in southern hemisphere winter so don't count and two were on a trip to Canada. So. Russell McPherron Rules! Who else has seen an aurora australis from an airliner? #auroras
"During this past weekend's strong G3-class geomagnetic storm, low-latitude #auroras spread as far south as #Texas and #Arizona. Upon further review, most of those lights were not auroras at all. Everything #red in this montage is an 'SAR arc'.
"'On Nov. 5th, the ring current was pumped up by hours of strong geomagnetic storming, with energy dissipating into these SAR arcs,' says Jeff Baumgardner of Boston University's Center for Space Physics. 'It was a global event. Our cameras registered #SAR arc activity from #Italy to #NewZealand.'
"Recent research has linked SAR arcs to another phenomenon that is not an aurora: #STEVE. The #mauve ribbon in the sky was not originally thought to have anything to do with Earth's ring current. Yet in 2015, observers in New Zealand caught a bright red SAR arc transforming itself into STEVE like a caterpillar into a butterfly.
"On Nov. 5th, Mark Savage may have witnessed the same metamorphosis over Northumberland, #UK:
"Visible to the naked eye, STEVE materialized from an overhanging red arc. 'The entire process took about 10 minutes,' says Savage. This timescale roughly matches that of another SAR-to-STEVE transition observed over Canada in April 2022. Clearly, the two phenomena are linked, but researchers aren't sure how.
"'The connection is still elusive,' says Carlos Martinis, a leading researcher in the field at Boston University. 'Sometimes SAR arcs evolve into STEVE--but not always. This is a very active field of research, involving citizen scientists and researchers.'
"Did you see an SAR arc on Nov. 5th? Submit your pictures to Spaceweather.com."
The Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis, is an otherworldly spectacle gracing the skies of the southern hemisphere, from Patagonia to Australia and beyond.
I love this part of the world so much. I love the snow, I love the villages, I love of open spaces, I love the reindeer, I love the people and I love being able to share it.
Little villages add a bit of magic to the far north.
Many are summer homes only, but some folk stay all year round. And why not, with such magnificent light and a landscape covered in snow. It makes you feel alive.
Before the Arctic became so popular with photographers the winter season was all about fishing. Skrei and other kinds of cod. Tough gig. These men risked their loves so we can eat seafood!
But it's the landscape that draws us most strongly. The fjords plunging into the ocean, the heavy snowfalls, the beautiful roads that hug the coastline. It's a paradise for people who just want to connect with nature. There is a calmness to being in the Arctic.