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Aurorae are indeed beautiful, aren't they, Connie? We almost never get them this far south, but the one time we did ... oh! what a night! The southern- and northern-hemisphere versions are, I believe, respectively called the aurora australis and the aurora borealis. Connie's gallery-link is spectacular, and several incredible aurora pictures can be found on that lovely site Helen provided about a week and a half ago: aurora over New Zealand: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010406.htmlvolcano and aurora in Iceland: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020121.htmlthe Black Aurora: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020101.htmlred aurora: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020115.html (personal favorite) aurora over clouds: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010402.htmlOr choose your own from http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?aurora. As you can see, I'm excited about that site. Thank you, Helen!
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Although I didn't live quite as far up south as Rakiura, we got to see the southern aurora reasonably often, obviously normally during unusually strong sunspot activity. Although it always appeared a bit freaky, I can't remember seeing any that were mindblowing from the beauty point of view. It was usually just a kind of translucent curtain in one or maybe two colours. Like most natural phenomena, it did manage to make me feel very small and insignificant.
The worst instance of that, however, occurred once when I was riding my motorbike along a coastal road on the West Coast of the South Island. The front wheel of the bike sort of shimmeyed, and I assumed I'd ridden over a patch of oil. But then I happened to glance at the hills to my left, and they were rising and falling going south like a Mexican wave. It wasn't exaggerated or anything, but it was quite plain. An earthquake had just rolled underneath me! [gibbering wreck on two wheels -e]
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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Carpal Tunnel
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OP
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The town where I am from in Northern Lower Michigan is far enough North to see the A.B. I have had that pleasure more than a few times. It is an awesome sight, and yes, I have heard them as well. I have primarily seen the pale green and/or the white varieties, but once, be still my heart, I saw red ones. The best memory, though, was at [can you guess?] Stone Circle. I lay on my back not far from the fire, watching the Northern Lights and listening to a hammered dulcimer being played right next to me. [pure joy-e]
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Augh! The one thing I would regret dying without experiencing is this phenomenon. I wanna move North! (Or maybe, WAY-AY south...Hi Max and CK!  )
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Come camping with me after Wapaloo, then. I can't guarantee anything, but there is always a better chance when you get away from the lights of civilization. 
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Or visit the Hebrides in Scotland or the North of Norway. Worth going to to even if you don't see the Aurorae. Travel in August so that you get the double benefit of seeing the Leonids aswell!
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old hand
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Or visit the Hebrides in Scotland or the North of Norway. Worth going to to even if you don't see the Aurorae.Probably true, but you don't have to go that far. We saw them in Winnipeg (an hour's drive from the US border) "all the time". (No good in St. John's - it's ALWAYS cloudy.) So the northern US should do it. Though Scotland and Norway sound more exotic! 
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Friend of mine recently saw NL for the first time on a vacation to Iceland. Having lived in AK for a number of years, I had tried to explain it to him. On his return, he was nevertheless astounded at the variety of colors and the way the light moved - not at all what he expected.
Sometimes, when you see a thing often, you come to take it for granted. I remember staring at it for hours till I damned near froze to death when we first moved up north. Near the end of our stay, I hardly noticed. Often I've wished that I could see it again.
k
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I lay on my back not far from the fire, watching the Northern Lights and listening to a hammered dulcimer being played right next to me.Well there you are, Connie, you learn something new every day, don't you? I'd love to see a hammered dulcimer. What do they drink, alcohol-based wood polish? Do they play in tune once they're hammered? Could you arrange this as a poster exhibition at WP? 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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I lay on my back not far from the fire, watching the Northern Lights and listening to a hammered dulcimer being played right next to me.You make a fine point, CK. I would argue that once the dulcimer is hammered, it would be easier to deal a play. "Hey baby, what key are you in? Can I buy you another varnish?"
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Carpal Tunnel
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I'd love to see a hammered dulcimer. Ohhhh, CK, that instrument has the most beautiful sound! Just...the feeling it gives is just indescribable! Pretty! PLEASING! Happy even when sad. Dancing! Delicate! Yippee!
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Isn't the Southern Cross a part of this phenomena in the Southern hemisphere?
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Isn't the Southern Cross a part of this phenomena in the Southern hemisphere?
The Southern Cross is just another constellation, so I doubt it. I can't see how a few stars of varying billions of light-years away can have any effect on electronic particles hitting the atmosphere.
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The Southern Cross is just another constellation
Yup, Jazzo...I should know the Southern Cross is a constellation. Don't know why I connected it with the aurora.
And, by the way, Southern Cross isn't a bad Crosby, Stills & Nash tune, either.
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I remember staring at it for hours till I damned near froze to deathToday's picture at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod is a spectacular aurora over Antactica. You'd have certain frozen here, FF: the outside temperature at the time this photograph was taken was about -73ºC (-100ºF).
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As a postscript to Keiva, this is the actual pic. I went to look and saw a green sun, and thought I was seeing strange things, but that's because I got the *new "Pic of the Day". This is the url for the pic Keiva was referring to yesterday: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020320.htmlOh, and it's Anta rctica. Can't let things from the "top of the world" be spelt wrong. Hev
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Thanks to you and kei. Similar to what I remember.
But my recollection was it was many different colors at once - green, blue, red - and that it was moving continuously and quickly - like one of those psychedelic lights. I don't know. Maybe my memory is making it out to be more than it was.
k
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Thanks, Hev! Came in this morning (when "today" had become "yesterday") to update the url, and found that a fast-fingered sheila had beaten me to it!
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> Augh! The one thing I would regret dying without experiencing is this phenomenon. I wanna move North! (Or maybe, WAY-AY south...Hi Max and CK!
What she said.
Oh - and not having sung "You'll never walk alone" on the kop!! Hi Dunc
stales
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What's a kop, please? Send private if it's embarrassing.
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I have seen magazine articles about sounds associated with aurora, and also with meteorites. Big problem is that sound travels so slow compared to light, there would be a very large time difference. There are theories that there is energy enough in non-visible spectrum to be converted to sound by something close to the observer - aluminum foil, etc. etc. Here's a URL with discussion by a physicist. http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF10/1096.html
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There is a steep street in Shrewsbury in Shropshire called Wyle Cop. I suppose the buildings and the street itself go back to at least the 16th century - there is by the way a splendidly idiosyncratic coaching inn, now a hotel, called The Lion - indicating that the word Kopje was adopted and distorted in this country in the dim and distant past - possibly Viking influence?
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Oh, thanks, stales--I knew I'd seen it recently. Afrikaans--sigh--I still miss David108.
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dxb - don't think I've had the pleasure?
G'day mate - and welcome
stales
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A truly spectacular aurora, featured yesterday: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020422.htmlIt strikes me that the red and green colors shown here are unusual in aurorae, blue and violet being more typical. Can anyone confirm or explain this?
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I have seen a red aurora in Massachusetts. The solar particles can have a spectrum of frequencies, and so when converted to light, different colors.
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