Auroral activity in Alaska has greatly increased over the past couple of years.  A gaseous solar flare erupts on the sun.  Charged gas molecules crash into the magnetized poles of the earth producing ten million megawatts of electrical power. As a result, a halo of light circles the north and south polar regions. From the surface of the earth, this halo appears as dancing sheets of vertical lights.  Colors of the northern lights range from a misty white to every color of the rainbow.

Alaska astronomer Jan Curtis is my premier choice for aurora photographs.  His Alaska northern lights photos are so outstanding they appear on the NASA web site, and the Astronomy Picture of the Day for November 2, 1999, is Curtis's Aurora Through a Moonlit Sky.  An interview with Curtis and a list of his top ten aurora borealis web sites appears in The Fairbanks Daily News Miner's Heartland Magazine article Aurora Catcher.

   Watch an Aurora Movie (556K).

Aurora Photos

When is shooting not a crime?  

• Jan Curtis shoots an Image of Comet Hale-Bopp against the northern lights. | mirror site | mirror site.
• Dick Hutchinson combines thirteen two-second exposures in his animated aurora gif which creates the illusion of a movie. Another aurora gif consists of thirty-five three-second exposures.  Hutchison, who lives in Circle, Alaska, shares his experience with shooting the aurora.
• Mark Chryson's Northern Lights Photos from Web Alaska.  You'll have a whole page of thumbnail photos to choose from.
• Earth's Great Light Show, an introduction to the Northern Lights with photos of the aurora taken from the space shuttle.
• Crackshot Photos including photos taken by Jeff M. of Fairbanks, Alaska.
• Edmonton Space & Science Centre - Observatory, Aurora Borealis and Comet Hale-Bopp.
• Jyrki Manninen Northern Lights, Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory auroral photos.

Aurora Frequently Asked Questions FAQ

• Aurora Basics provided by the Poker Flat Research Range, the world's only scientific rocket launching facility owned by a university, located thirty miles north of Fairbanks.
• Space and Astronomy, NASA Athena Curriculum Space
  • What is an aurora?
  • Where can the aurora be seen?
  • What causes the aurora?
  • What factors influence the brightness of the northern lights?
  • Why are there different colors in the aurora?
  • Is there a connection between sunspots on the Sun and large displays of aurora?
  • What is the "solar wind" made of?
  • Do other planets have aurora?
  • How long have there been northern lights?

Aurora Links

• Auroras: Paintings in the Sky, answer your questions with an illustrated self-guided tour.
• Rocket Scientist, Neal Brown, explains the aurora at Alaska Science Explained.
  • Bibliography, an aurora borealis suggested reading list.
  • Aurora Milestones a timeline of research about the aurora borealis.
• Sun-Earth Connection Page , how solar eruptions contribute to the aurora borealis.
• Legends and Folklore of the Northern Lights including a story in The Labrador Eskimo reported by Ernest W. Hawkes.
• The Aurorae (Borealis and Australis)
• Surprising gap in aurora borealis puzzles scientists including an aurora webcam updated every seven minutes!
• Electric Enigma The VLF aurora borealis recordings of Stephen P. McGreevy.
• N1BUG Web, the aurora and Ham radio operators
• On the Teel Family website, Marilyn Morgan has granted permission to put her chapter "N is for Northern Nights and Northern Lights" from her book Alaska Alphabet Stories and Activities on-line.

Free Newsletter

[ Top of Page ]