The Northern Lights

One of Nature’s

Best Kept Secrets

My Hobby

• Observing this phenomenon

• Then posting photos on my web site– www.prairiejournal.com– Started site in April 21

• Journal or blog

• Note: am an observer, not a scientist

Is it easy?

• Photos from numerous days on my web site make it look like it’s easy to observe the northern lights at my location – Just north of

Bismarck, ND

I’m Here to Tell You

It’s Not!!!

Hobby Requires:

• Persistence

• Persistence

• Persistence

Today’s Presentation

• How to be successful at viewing the northern lights

– There’s no secret formula

• Why North Dakota & other Upper Midwest states are some of the best places in world to observe

• Some special observations

• How to make this a great hobby

Ways to Guarantee Failure

• You ask me to call you when the northern lights are going to be out

• If I did that to everyone who requested it, that’s all I would get done

• You say to me, “I heard the northern lights were fantastic last night. Can I expect to see the same tonight?”

What You Need to be Successful

• An addiction to your computer– Daily review of web

sites

• Then, if conditions look good, go out

Internet Tools

• www.spaceweather.com – consider paying small fee to receive phone alerts

• www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/forecasts/RSGA/0419RSGA.txt - forecasts

• www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/forecasts/ALTS.txt - alerts in the past 24 hours

Internet Tools

• www.sec.noaa.gov – current space weather conditions

• www.spacew.com – consider paying small fee to receive e-mail watches & warnings / read the forum

• http://kate.nic.ualberta.ca:8000/portal/rt_oval/index.html - real time auroral oval

Soak up the Information

• If a display is expected & just starting, I have observed enough that I can look at numbers on web sites to know if the northern lights are out at my location

• I then call my dad to confirm

My Model (in head) Works for Me

Why• I study the internet

prior to a display & then after display

• I equate the numbers that I see to display

The Model isn’t Precise

Why?• It’s not an exact science• Typically you need some

combination of below to work in your favor to see the northern lights– A high solar wind speed– High densities– Interplanetary magnetic

field – shift to south

Forecasting an Inexact Science

• August 16, 2002 – story

• Same as weather forecasting 100 years ago?

• Why persistence is so important– You must experience failure

many times to be successful

Why Lost Sleep is Important

• Displays are great– However, the substorms

rock • When lights are most active &

colorful

– Substorms are often short lived

• Once you see one, you learn to appreciate the beauty & realize that the time lost watching just a green or white glow is worth it

A Great State (Region) to Observe

• You can see displays year round in North Dakota

– We have dark skies 365 days per year, unlike Alaska or northern Canada

• Our climate is drier, resulting in more nights with clear skies

• During major displays, auroral oval shifts south of location – WOW!

Appreciation

• My perception - we appreciate northern lights more because displays don’t occur everyday

Special Observations

• Astronomy photo of the day

Special Observations

• March 30, 2001 – first time see parts of sky turn blood red

Special Observations

• May 15, 2005 – northern lights should have been visible at 10:30 p.m. when dark, but took until 1:15 a.m.

Special Observations

• June 18, 2003 – one of longest days of the year - northern lights in northeast (brightest part of sky during dawn)

Special Observations

• October 28, 2008 – Fastest moving display ever seen – a visual wow!

Special Observations

• December 14, 2006 – lots of action that never witnessed before – every display is different – keeps me coming back

Special Observations

• April 19, 2002 – Monitored much of night – display occurred just before dawn – saw start of major display

Special Observations

• December 24, 2001 – my Christmas lights – photo appeared on www.cnn.com

My Hobby

• Share photos via web site– www.prairiejournal.c

om

• Nearly 50,000 page views of December 14, 2006 display– Forwarded e-mails

My Hobby

• Opportunities to speak & share stories– Such as today

• Opportunities to talk on subject with small group of people from around world– Via internet forums

My Hobby

• Opportunities to have photos featured elsewhere– www.cnn.com– New York Times– “Resort”

• Online brochure– Use to respond to e-

mail questions– Used by North

Dakota Tourism

Reference Material

• Books– Secrets of the Auroral Borealis, Vol. 29, by

Syun-Ichi Akasofu – The Aurora Watcher’s Handbook, by Neil

Davis– Aurora: The Mysterious Northern Lights,

by Candace Sherk Savage

• Online brochure