Northern Lights
or
Aurora Borealis
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Frequently Asked Questions
What are they?
One of Nature's most spectacular and beautiful sights.
The Aurorae form gigantic oval haloes of radiation around the magnetic poles of the Earth. Energy from electrically charged particles entering the upper atmosphere from space are converted into light, forming visible glows, rays, arcs, bands and veils.
The Northern Dawn or Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) are visible from the Northern hemisphere while the Aurora Australis (Southern Lights) can be seen around the Southern magnetic pole.
Where can I see them?
On the night side of the Earth the auroral rings reach to 30 degrees of latitude from the magnetic pole. This makes them visible most of the winter from locations within the Arctic or Antarctic circles - Antarctica, Greenland, Iceland and Northern regions of Canada, Alaska, Scandinavia and Russia.
During times of more intense activity on the Sun, flares of energised particles cause auroral storms which can be viewed at lower latitudes such as Northern Scotland and most of Norway, Sweden and Finland. Very rarely displays can be seen from northerly parts of Europe and the United States.
In Scotland the more northerly the situation the more likely a sighting. The Shetland Isles are about as far as you can go ...!
When can I see them?
Any time when skies are dark enough in the auroral regions. Summer twilight is generally too bright for the aurora to appear, though they may be seen throughout the rest of the year in the Arctic regions.
Winter nights provide the best opportunity, when the aurora may be visible for several nights in succession at lower latitudes. Weather conditions must be favourable, with a clear northern horizon.
Solar activity is related to frequency of auroral sightings at lower latitudes and rises and falls with the eleven year sunspot cycle. The last solar maximum was in 2000.
What do they look like?
An auroral display will often start with a faint greenish arc or glow a few degrees above the northern horizon. This gradually rises, with rays like car headlamps appearing to shoot upwards and shift sideways, giving them their Scots name of 'The Merry Dancers'.
The arc may then develop into a ribbon with patches of light appearing along its length, sometimes showing strongly coloured reds and purples. If the rays pass over the zenith a shape like a crown is created, with shafts of light appearing to converge at a single point directly overhead.
At other times diffuse patches of coloured light may start to flicker, with the appearance of the whole northern sky being aflame. In ancient times this effect was feared as a portent of doom.
Where were these pictures taken?
From a garden in Fortrose on the Black Isle, near Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland. They were taken in Spring 1989 at a time of high solar activity which produced massive storms sometimes visible from the South of England.
What equipment did you use?
An ordinary 35mm SLR camera and 200ASA colour print film, mounted on a tripod. Exposures were around 30 seconds or less.