Aurora Borealis/Northern Lights in 2008. Where to see it?
I'm hoping to see the Northern Lights in 2008. I live around San Francisco, California. Where are some places that I could travel to experience them? And what time of year would I need to go?
Weather - 2 Answers
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1 :
The Auroras are associated with solar activity and are more prominent at the more notherly lattitudes (or southerly in the southern hemisphere). A good resource for tracking them is http://www.spaceweather.com Norway, Sweden, Canada, Siberia and Alaska are some of the more prime locations (Greenland and Iceland and Finland too) but they are dependent on solar activity, unfortunately the sun is in a minimal activity phase. There are some scientists who believe it is starting to come out of solar minimum phase but its still not clear if it is or not. With very large solar flares or coronal mass ejections (CME's) there are greater auroral activity including the ability to see them at lower lattitudes. EDIT: All the Northern US states will have auroras visible, but the more north you go, the more brilliant and varied they become. Dark skies are also a must as some auroras are too faint to be seen near urban areas because of the light pollution. September/October and March/April are often reported to be the best times of the year to see auroras, but they can occur at anytime of the year. Here's a link to the gallery at SpaceWeather http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/gallery.html
2 :
The states bordering Canada regularly see the Northern Lights. The auroras are fully dependant on solar activity and time of the year does not matter. Moon phase and proximity to light pollution does affect how visible the Northern Lights are so go outside during a New Moon and be far away from city lights. I see them often on clear nights from my home in Minnesota.
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