Aurora Hunting Within The Arctic Circle

[swat_pup6433]

Hi Guys, Just to share with you a short video I made from a trip deep into northern Alaska last week, basically bits and pieces of videos and compilation of some Time lapse of the Aurora (northern Lights).
here is the link to the video

http://youtu.be/XPqRkjN-zto


Thanks and Regards
ZongYe

[Gary]

Nice video and trip! Thanks for sharing.

[cataclysm]

Fantastic! Must be a great trip!

[Clifford60]

Superb, like you said, die die must see once in the life time. Thank you for sharing.

[swat_pup6433]

ohh yeah!!! its really a die die must see once in a lifetime event! was quite surprised it was actually so bright! and they really dance fast in the sky~ looks like the whole sky was in blue/gree/violet flames! i was expecting sumthing more like the usual astro photo stuff.. when u look through the scope.. you see nothing more den a fussy patch.. this one you really see bright colours dancing in the sky!

[rcj]

fur auction!!

[Airconvent]

Snow everywhere! It looks exciting the first few hours but not after several days!
But really nice aurora and that mist above the road is uncanny! Thanks for sharing..

[starfinder]

Hi Zongye,

Very nice time-lapse of the aurora! Looks it was very bright and widespread.

And welcome to the Singapore Seen-Aurora Club (SSAC), heh.

I've a friend who just today returned from Iceland. He went there mainly to see the aurora, though he's never been into astronomy before. I think he saw it on 3 out of around 13 nights there, and managed to also capture it on camera on a few other nights when it was faint.

Some questions: how many nights did you see the aurora? How many hours each night? how many nights were you in Alaska? How many nights were too cloudy? And how many were not cloudy but no aurora was seen?

Another set of questions: how did you get to Alaska? What airline(s) and route? Thanks.

I'm trying to have a better idea of the chances of seeing the aurora. I saw it in northern Norway (Tromso region) in late Oct last year; I saw it on 2 nights out of around 9 or 10 in the northern Norway/northern Sweden region, but each of those 2 nights had a good display (at and near Tromso). Of the other 7-8 nights, about 5 were totally clouded out and about 1-2 were partly clear but no aurora was seen.

Once again, great video!

Now's a good time as any to try seeing the aurora, since the Sun is now on the upswing towards the peak of the solar cycle after a long trough of many years. Hmmm... I'm already thinking of maybe making another trip, perhaps Alaska or Iceland. How about that.

[swat_pup6433]

Hi Zongye,

Very nice time-lapse of the aurora! Looks it was very bright and widespread.

And welcome to the Singapore Seen-Aurora Club (SSAC), heh.

I've a friend who just today returned from Iceland. He went there mainly to see the aurora, though he's never been into astronomy before. I think he saw it on 3 out of around 13 nights there, and managed to also capture it on camera on a few other nights when it was faint.

Some questions: how many nights did you see the aurora? How many hours each night? how many nights were you in Alaska? How many nights were too cloudy? And how many were not cloudy but no aurora was seen?

Another set of questions: how did you get to Alaska? What airline(s) and route? Thanks.

I'm trying to have a better idea of the chances of seeing the aurora. I saw it in northern Norway (Tromso region) in late Oct last year; I saw it on 2 nights out of around 9 or 10 in the northern Norway/northern Sweden region, but each of those 2 nights had a good display (at and near Tromso). Of the other 7-8 nights, about 5 were totally clouded out and about 1-2 were partly clear but no aurora was seen.

Once again, great video!

Now's a good time as any to try seeing the aurora, since the Sun is now on the upswing towards the peak of the solar cycle after a long trough of many years. Hmmm... I'm already thinking of maybe making another trip, perhaps Alaska or Iceland. How about that.

Hi I was in Alaska for 10 days, and generally seen the aurora almost everyday except for one day which was cloudy in Fairbanks. the location you choose is very important. We were at the Northern Brooks range of Alaska right in the middle of the aurora band. so as long as there is aurora activities you will be able to see it. also deep in the mountain range, We had not ran into a cloudy night for my 5 nights in there. typically on a good night it would start around 1 hr before solar midnight and last till 1 hour after but we have had those that started at 10 pm and lasted all the way till 3. you can see from the video. it usually start off being a boring band in the sky.. starts to move upwards. splits into 2 boring bands... and after that burst into a colourful dancing display.
As for flight because i am stationed in Seoul now, so I flew to Seattle via Korean Air and transferred to Alaska Air flying to Fairbanks. as for the Timing, I would say that the first part is over right now, the days will be too long and night too short for the aurora. or the night will simply not be dark enough for them in the northern hemisphere. best time is usually in March Or September. with reasonable long dark nights and well... not so freezing temperature. and by not so freezing.. i ment around -20 to -35'C. So do plan to dress warm if you are planning to go in during the Alaskan Winter.
well, do let me know if you require any other information planning a trip there. also you can check out website from the geographical institute of Alaska which provides Aurora Forecast to increase your odds.

ZongYe