{"id":43541,"date":"2023-04-05T10:01:43","date_gmt":"2023-04-05T10:01:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.skyatnightmagazine.com\/?p=117742"},"modified":"2023-04-05T10:32:34","modified_gmt":"2023-04-05T10:32:34","slug":"what-its-like-seeing-the-aurora-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/rss_feed\/what-its-like-seeing-the-aurora-for-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"What it\u2019s like seeing the aurora for the first time"},"content":{"rendered":"

What’s it like seeing the Northern Lights? The Sky at Night’s Maggie Aderin-Pocock describes her experience. <\/p>

By Maggie Aderin-Pocock\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 05 April 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

T<\/span>he past few years I have spent working on The Sky at Night<\/i> have been a privilege and it has led to some incredible opportunities: reporting on the descent of the Philae<\/a><\/span> lander onto Comet 67P; being present at NASA as New Horizons<\/a> flew past Pluto, and discussing some of the first images that the probe returned.<\/p>\n

Perhaps one of my favourite astronomical experiences thus far, however, has been when I was able to fulfil a childhood dream of seeing the Northern Lights<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We looked into a number of options to hunt down the aurora borealis<\/a>.<\/p>\n

They can be seen from northern Scotland, but the probability of seeing them far south in the UK is low.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
An aurora display of 13 March 2022 from Cockermouth, Cumbria, UK. Credit: Stuart Atkinson<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Flying north from Leeds on a dedicated<\/span> \u2018aurora flight\u2019 was also considered, but in the end we settled on a visit to Troms\u00f8<\/a>, a Norwegian town high in the Arctic Circle amongst the fjords.<\/p>\n

With an 80% chance of seeing the Northern Lights from there, it was definitely our best shot.<\/p>\n

Aurorae were once simply thought to be caused by the flow of charged particles from<\/span> the Sun \u2013 the solar wind \u2013 interacting with the Earth\u2019s magnetic field<\/a>: as the particles spiralled down Earth\u2019s magnetic field lines, they ionised gases in the atmosphere causing them to glow, just like a neon tube.<\/p>\n

However, new research indicates that this cannot be the complete picture.<\/p>\n

Measurements of particle speeds show that they themselves do not have enough energy to generate the light that we see.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Credit: Naeblys \/ Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Another source of energy is needed, something that kicks the gas particles into the Earth\u2019s atmosphere at high speed.<\/p>\n

Scientists eventually realised that it was energy \u2018banked\u2019 into the electric and magnetic field of the solar wind itself.<\/p>\n

As the charged gas (plasma) shoots out of the Sun, it generates its own magnetic field, which travels to Earth with the particles.<\/p>\n

As this hits Earth\u2019s own magnetic field, the two fields react with each other, compressing and pushing and twisting until \u2013 suddenly \u2013 the magnetic field lines themselves snap and reform.<\/p>\n

And in that snapping a flash of energy is released; it is this kick that speeds up the articles as they head down into Earth\u2019s atmosphere, and that fast, dynamic kick is enough to cause them to ionise the atmosphere.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Northern Lights captured by Tom\u00e1\u0161 Slovinsk\u00fd, Troms\u00f8, Norway, 27 October 2021<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

What does the aurora borealis look like?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The result is magnificent: <\/span>I had expected shimmering<\/span> bands of light filling the whole sky from the pictures I had seen, but what surprised me was the dynamic nature of the aurora\u2019s movement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Scintillations<\/span> danced fast across the sky, sheets of light expanded like ink spreading on blotting paper.<\/p>\n

It was one of the most glorious astronomical phenomena<\/span> I have seen to date and it brought to life the movement of the solar wind.<\/p>\n

I had known it was there, but to see it displayed in a flurry of light was truly amazing.<\/p>\n

\"""\"<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture><\/div>
Aurora over Troms\u00f8 by James Daniels, Troms\u00f8, Norway.<\/span><\/figcaption><\/div>\n

Even with our better understanding of the phenomena the aurora is still throwing up mysteries.<\/p>\n

Quite why it forms into regular patterns remains hard to explain, and there\u2019s also a phenomena known as \u2018Steve<\/a>\u2019, in which a column of light is produced, the causes of which are still being investigated.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s good to know that there are plenty of reasons for me to try and see them again sometime!<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared in the January 2018 issue of <\/strong><\/em>BBC Sky at Night Magazine<\/strong>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n

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