Sometimes referred to as 'Northern Lights'.

Has anyone ever seen one of these displays? I'm told it is quite a sight to see.

Many moons ago during one of the years of high solar activity.

Must have been in the late 1970s - I was out of town and it was in the autumn, and it was a good sight. Not teh real stunning displays that you get in the far north, but more of a nice glow and some 'curtain' effects.

When I've had my 'amateur radio' hat on I've 'heard' auroras reasonably often. Because they're ionised gasses, they reflect radio signals and are often audible on VHF radio signals (30MHz to a couple of hundred megahertz) before they're visible. And, radio auroras are audible in the daylight! :)

Joe

Interesting to see the late seventies referred to there, Joe.
I was in Aberdeen during that period and although I cannot remember the year (or month) I was treated to a fantastic display late one night somewhere between '77 and '81.

As we rounded the corner and saw the colours hanging up there it was very much a case of what the **** is going on here until it dawned on us what we were seeing.

Mostly greens and purples if I remember rightly.

The late seventies were very active for the sun, I think - lots of charged particles coming form the sun, sun spots, etc.

Greens and purples are quite common colours - depends upon the gases involved. Basically the charged particles from the sun turn the upper atmosphere in to a gian neon light. Though with Nitrogen, Oxygen, etc. instead of Neon...:)

But yes - Aberdeen would get a great view!

Joe

When I've flown to and from Canada in the past I've had some good shows - great sight to see :D

Never had the pleasure to see it, but it's an ambition of mine. It really must take your breath away.

I've seen it but think its spelt BOREALIS!! Its real nice from north scotland

I've seen them many times. Where we lived in Canada they were often just a slowly shifting glow in the sky. Occasionally they were really dramatic though, with vibrant colours and they would actually 'dance' in the sky. There's nothing more beautiful than being out in the woods on a very still dark night when they are playing across the sky.

there was an incident in about 1986/7, when the aurora borealis was seen as far south as the south of england.

I remember walking down the hill where I lived at the time, (in stocksbridge )and seeing these wavy lights in the sky.

it was like looking at a very pale, shimmery, wispy, fibre-optic lamp, that's the only way I can describe it. there were all sorts of colours, (like a rainbow) in it it was surreal.

I had never seen anything like it, in my life before..

It was beautiful, really beautiful.

It scared the dickens out of me, too, I have to admit, because I have never seen the northern lights before, so I didn't know what it was I was seeing.

PT

Apparently it was visible from Sheffield sometime towards the end(ish) of last year, I know a couple of people who saw it (i missed it though :( )

I thought I heard on the radio sometime in the last few days that it should be visible if the sky was clear!

I've seen a forum with some guys talking about seeing it in South Scotland on the 21st http://www.metcheck.com/areareports.asp?LocationID=5

and one has posted some photos but they are a struggle to look at.

1994 (ish) over North Anston while coming along the Brampton straight Mile late one night.
Went to me mates house & knocked them all up out of bed to see it. Nice.

I've seen it, but not one of the more spectacular displays, was amazing enough just what I saw though, I'd love to see a better display of it.

When I saw it was about 12 years ago, in the middle of nowhere in East Anglia. Would never have seen it if I was in a town at the time.

When I've flown to and from Canada in the past I've had some good shows - great sight to see

I spent my honeymoon in Alberta some eight years ago on an isolated farm. The northern lights on our last night were spectacular - slowly shifting waves of colour. Simply breathtaking.

Co-incidentalty, I've just finished reading Philip Pullman's dark Materials trilogy, where the northern lights act as the gateway to other dimensions. Well written with terrific imagination, but his attitude towards religion is a little phobic.

http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/aurorawatch/cgi-bin/subscribe

is a mailing list you can join - when they detect a good chance of seeing them from Northern England you get an e-mail warning you. Bet you could get a good view out in the peaks!

Some one said you could see them from northern Scotland is that just certain times of the year or is it always visable :confused:

And I don't mean Hillsborough lit up on a cold winter matchday!

My mum wants to go on a trip to visit the Northern Lights which i believe are best seen from Lapland, Iceland or Norway. Has anyone been and where to? How was your trip and when did you go?

And I don't mean Hillsborough lit up on a cold winter matchday!

My mum wants to go on a trip to visit the Northern Lights which i believe are best seen from Lapland, Iceland or Norway. Has anyone been and where to? How was your trip and when did you go?

or even Alaska and no i haven't http://fairbanks-alaska.com/northern-lights-alaska.htm

I have been to the Arctic several times and the only place I have seen them was the Peak district. Several years ago they were reflected on ice in the upper atmosphere and were visible from the UK.

I know my friend went to Iceland to celebrate her 25th wedding aniversary and she saw them there

i went 2 years ago to Rovaniemi far to cloudy and snowy to see northern lites

I've seen them three times, always when I've been in the Shetlands.

i remember my dad telling me that you can see them from the uk from april.

Ive seen them in Northern norway and also whilst floating around in a boat in the Artic Circle. Its much better to see them from the sea when everythings dark, I think you can get cruises which go really far north and call at a couple of places on the way, such as Tromso. Theyre worth seeing, its amazing

They can be seen from Orkney--I've seen them there--plus Orkney is closer, cheaper to get to, and a great place to visit!

Tromso in Norway, or Canada seem to be your best bets, from about October to February. By all accounts, Tromso is quite expensive when you're there though.

It's my dream to see them.

They can be seen from Orkney--I've seen them there--plus Orkney is closer, cheaper to get to, and a great place to visit!

Yeah you can see them from parts of the UK but if your sole purpose of going away is to see them then you'd want to go somewhere where you're more likely to see them. Tromso is expensive as someone has jsut said but its worth going the extra distance. Aparrantly the quality is better as well the further north you go (But I dont know this for a fact as Ive never seen them in the UK)

The best place to see them is definitely the Arctic Circle. I don't think they have the same effect in the UK or even in Iceland (which is outside the Arctic Circle).

They're also on a 11 year cycle, which we're more or less in the middle of at the moment, will be best (from memory), I think about 2010/2012 ish. You can also predict when you will have a good show, 3 days before it happens, by checking the space "weather" forecasts - they are the result of solar flares and take about 3 days to get to us. :)

I used to live in Glasgow and could see the Northern Lights from there. Sorry have seen them in Edinburgh too.

I have seen them in the Scandinavian Arctic in Kiruna and Andoya, Newfoundland and the Hebrides. They can be seen in the Sheffield area but the ambient lighting in this area makes it very difficult. You could sign up with http://www.spaceweather.com/ to get the latest on solar activity and see the pictures that the aurora watchers around the world post.

Tromso in Norway, or Canada seem to be your best bets, from about October to February. By all accounts, Tromso is quite expensive when you're there though.

It's my dream to see them.
Me too. I almost went for a trip to Norway which includes the Northern Lights but didn't in the end.

I definitely think it is worth seeing.
I've forgotten the name of the company which organises these trips. You could order a brochure online. I think they're a member of ATOL.

I saw them from Ringinglow during the eighties, it was due to the sun spot cycle. Any radio hams will know all about it.

I think the ones in the eighties that AJ mentions were the very odd ones, that happened in about 1986/7, when they were visible as far south as Plymouth.

I remember this weird happening, quite well.

I lived in Stocksbridge at the time, and was walking down Glebelands Road, looking across to the farm on the hill (the one that has the huge lit-up cross at easter)

I'd never seen them before (or since, to my knowlege) and I wondered what the blue-blazes they were. they were so very beautiful, shimmering across the sky, like angel's wings, but by-gum they scared me!! I thought it was a herald of the end of the world, or something! :lol:

I am not too sure of the time frame PT but that could be about right. I remember reading in electronics magazines about the increased propagation of radio signals due to the 11 year sunspot cycle.

Take a look at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/ it gives the predictions and we are at a solar minimum right now.

A similar thread from the archives:

Aurora Borialis - Has anyone ever seen it? (http://www.sheffieldforum.co.uk/showthread.php?t=27451)

near here theres a small fishing village called staithes, which has a harbour enclosed by cliffs at either side
its excellent for watching both the northern lights and lightening travelling up and down the coast past the cliffs

I once did a 'northern lights' plane trip that flew into the arctic circle (couple of years ago now) - we did see the northern lights, but it wasn't as spectacular as a lot of the photos you see, but they were clearly visible. There was a sort of lecture/power point show given beforehand from some of the 'sky at night' people which was informative without being too technical and there was a good commentary throughout the flight. I think it was advertised in a national newspaper and if I had the time/money, I'd definitely consider doing it again. I've thought of going to some remote place in Norway too (just because ryanair fly there and it's cheap) in the hope of seeing them from ground level, but travel's more difficult with a toddler in tow ;)

Mod note: Threads merged.

I am so surprised that we can actually see it from Scotland.

I would love to see this.