Jump to content

NLCbanner2024.jpg.2478be509670e60c2d6efd04834b8b47.jpg

Likelihood of seeing an Aurora in Sweden

tooth_dr

By tooth_dr
in The Astro Lounge

Recommended Posts

tooth_dr

tooth_dr

Posted
Posted

I'm heading over there in the next couple of weeks, and would like to use it as an opportunity to observe and image of an aurora if at all possible.

How likely do you think this may be given that I will only have one night or possibly two to get out of the city and head further north? I know it depends on solar activity, so it's presumably blind luck whether or not there is one.

I'd be interested to hear of anyone who has been there (or somewhere similar) and tips/advice on how to go about it. I was thinking just head as far north as possible, go somewhere dark, and look North? Is it better in early evening or late night or early morning? I'm considering an all night train and using it as accomodation for one night and heading as far north as it goes, the train journey I am looking at is 11 hours and would mean travelling all night. I thought I may have a good opportunity of seeing something along the train journey too?

The best part is my fiancee is up for it too, so that is more than half the battle :hello1:

Any suggestions appreciated!

Adam

Link to comment
Share on other sites
dogfish

dogfish

Posted
Posted

Hi Adam

No tips for aurora catching, I'm afraid. I'm guessing the train you're talking about is the one that goes to Kiruna (?sp)? That's quite far north, so obviously that would help. I'm also guessing you're staying in Stockholm (lovely city, if you've not been before) but that's surprisingly south - there's a lot of Sweden further north than that. As for aurora, we're still not far past solar minimum, so the chances of significant auroral activity must be low, although you could get lucky.

Enjoy your trip, Martin

Link to comment
Share on other sites
saturn5

saturn5

Posted
Posted

Whereabouts in Sweden,the south of Sweden is about the same latitude as

Central Scotland so you've virtually no chance there,in the upper 60's latitude you have a chance.

Check out http://www.spaceweather.com/ very useful,tells you the position of the Aurora oval,solar activity and the likely hood of aurora activity.

We had a aurora display a couple of weeks ago,very faint mind you but they can occur out of the blue.Good luck.

Link to comment
Share on other sites
tooth_dr

tooth_dr

Posted
  • Author
Posted

Yes we're flying into Stockholm, but I've no accomodation booked yet as we are not 100% on what we want to do, but we plan to venture north. I guess I'll keep an eye on the aurora websites, and keep my fingers crossed.

Thanks for all the replies, having only been a member of this site for a short time I am truly overwhelmed by the level of help offered by folks on here on any topic under the Sun (and above for that matter!)

Adam

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Talitha

Talitha

Posted
Posted

:) Hi Adam, if you'll have internet access on the trip, keep checking the left column on the spaceweather.com page. Scroll down to the section entitled "Planetary K-index". See the "Now: Kp=" number? You'll need a Kp reading of about 5 for a good visual display in Stockholm.

That's IF the Bz reading is far enough south (approx. 7-10). Scroll down a bit to "Interplanetary Mag. Field". The second Bz number is the one you want to watch, and what you want to see is the word 'south' behind the Bz number. The higher the south number is, the better your chance.

Basically, Kp indicates 'thickness' (for lack of a better word), and Bz indicates position. A high Kp is like a thick stew (the thicker the better).. a low Kp is like a watery soup. A northern Bz means the solar wind was weak and didn't have enough 'oomph' to push the activity too far southward on the dark side of the Earth. This can mix things up a bit, because although you can have a good Kp reading, you're not going to see anything if the Bz's too far north. Conversely, you'll have a good chance at seeing something if the Bz is pushed far enough south even though the Kp is weaker than what's considered 'required' for your corrected magnetic latitude.

For instance, my corrected magnetic latitude is almost the same as Stockholm's, but I can see the Aurora when the Kp is a weak 3, providing the Bz is at least 15 south. Those displays usually aren't much more than a low dome, but sometimes sporadic high intensity substorms erupt and show lovely horizon-hugging Auroral 'curtains' flowing in the solar wind.

Even without substorms though, you'll be able to 'detect' lesser displays visually but for the most part they're merely a horizon glow and look like a distant light dome. If you're wondering whether or not a glow is an Aurora or not, try an experimental 30-60 second exposure on a digital camera. If it's an Aurora, you'll see the signature 'green' color. If it's a light dome you'll see orange. Try ISO 400 and open the aperture as wide as you can.

Hope this wasn't too long-winded or confusing, but space weather is just like terrestrial weather. Certain things have to occur in tandem for things to happen. Have a great trip and I hope you get to see something. :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites
Starman

Starman

Posted
Posted

Have just got back from the Eiscat Scientific Association research facility just south of Tromso.

The auroral oval lies very close to Tromso so even when things are quiet, it's normally possible to see a green glow on the horizon. The biggest factor in getting to see the aurora from the ground is moving to a location where you can see the auroral oval. From the UK it sits below the horizon for most of the time but will move further south if given a kick from the Sun. This mostly occurs close to solar maximum.

The second most important factor is the weather and it's worth checking out what the local conditions are normally like during the time you intend to visit. Sky at Night took a gamble and hoped for the best. At the start of last Thursday night I was filming in a snow storm. An hour later it cleared and I managed to pick up a faint auroral glow low in the north. Not long after that, the display picked up and kept going for most of the night.

The optimum time of night to see the aurora boreais is magnetic midnight, when the magnetic north pole, you and the Sun all line up. However, it's also important to give the lights time. If there's not there when you look outside, don't give up, they can turn on at any moment. Similarly, an active display can turn off just as quickly. If the vertical component of the interplanetary magnetic field (the magnetic field embedded in the charged clouds of particles coming from the Sun) is pointing north, it's like "shields up" for the Earth and this is not good for activity. Bz pointing south is optimum.

This was my third trip to Tromso and the third time I've seen the lights although the initial weather conditions did make me think I was in for a failure. I also had the honour of meeting Kjetil Skogli, the chap that did the auroral imaging for Johanna Lumley's programme (and yes - they were real!).

Here's some of the earlier shots if you're interested...

http://www.digitalsky.org.uk/aurora/tromso2009.html

You might also find February's Sky at Night programme interesting.

Finally, here are a handful of useful websites...

http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/

http://www.dcs.lancs.ac.uk/iono/aurorawatch/

http://www.sunearthplan.net/

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Go to topic listing

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue. By using this site, you agree to our Terms of Use.