Aurora near Fairbanks, Alaska

It's towards the end of the season; soon the sky won't get dark enough for auroras, and already now a blue glow is visible on the northern horizon throughout the night. It starts out with a typical growth phase where a southward drifting arc indicates that energy is building up in the magnetotail. The following substorm is not a very distinct one. The energy appears to be unloaded only partially, and relatively bright and structured aurora continues after the brief, substorm-like event. Unfortunately, the time lapse was interrupted in an untimely manner by a coating of ice forming on the camera lens.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• aurora
• northern
• lights
• substorm
• fairbanks
• alaska

[mynameislulou]

do you think i will see any Aurora in the summer time in fairbanks?

[flovholm]

I wish, but from end of April to mid August it doesn't get dark enough to see aurora this far north.

[LoudnessInc7]

Does Aurora Borealis only happen in Fairbanks, and not like in Anchorage or lower parts of Alaska? Thanks!

[flovholm]

Aurora can be seen throughout Alaska, though not as frequently farther south; especially not during solar minimum (which we have now; next maximum should be ~2012). Google "Aurora Watcher's Guide" and go to page 2 of the Sky & Telescope article. There you will find a small chart showing the probability of seeing aurora around the northern hemisphere (on average - it's lower during solar minimum, especially farther south).

[brightgreenbies]

Definately miss the northern lights

[XCHUSKYXC]

look at 0:22 into the sky and say me what you can see there?

[MrRopheil]

miracle

[devanlou]

kool

[eDD77s]

@McAwEsOmE119 sry, this makes no sense. you can see the aurora borealis so your cam does. maybe you have to set longer shutter speed and higher iso value (more photosensitive). your cam is sensitive to the same "light"-band as your eye.

btw, great footage! i wish someday to see this natural phenomena live!

[hearty221]

@ChucklesTheSane ....im living here in asia so im not that  familiar in the aurora thing...but im hoping to see it someday...well, thank you..

[ChucklesTheSane]

@hearty221

Wiki "aurora (astronomy)" Wikipedia might be biased trash for many things, but the astronomy community keeps it updated and detailed fairly well to be quite informative for questions like yours.

I also hope you do someday get to see it live. flovholm, is there a non-timelapse version you can post of this exact same clip? That would even more impressive, IMHO, because it shows how vibrant and lively it really is.

Yes, I used to live around Fairbanks, Alaska.. :)

[hearty221]

why is there an aurora???i mean how does it work??? i thought aurora is a fiction coz of some anime drama ,, but i guess its true...i wanna see one,coz its really nice..