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How to Make Northern Lights Cooler

The northern lights are a one of the most striking natural phenomena on the planet. Comprised of photons that get excited when bouncing off the earth's atmosphere, the green and red colors can be awe-inspiring. Known as Aurora Borealis in the northern hemisphere and Aurora Australis in the southern hemisphere, the northern lights can be predicted with modest success, bringing backyard astronomers together for northern lights parties. These lights can dance in the sky for hours, even in the daytime.

Things You'll Need

Digital camera
Telescope or binoclars

Instructions

- 1
  Monitor the solar wind and proton density in the earth-facing side of the sun for solar eruptions. These explosions can hurl aurora-producing protons in the direction of earth's magnetic field, and typically take two to three days to arrive. Spaceweather.com provides daily updates of solar activity.
- 2
  Find a location away from cities and other sources of light pollution. Large state parks make good locations. If you cannot get far away from a city, try to get to a northern spot so that most of the lights are to your south.
- 3
  Bring a digital camera. If there is no moonlight, you will have a better chance to take good extended exposure photographs. Flat lakes and snowy landscapes will enhance images as well.
- 4
  Select a time period near the spring or fall equinoxes. The months of March and October have had the most days of auroral activity since 1927, according to aurorahunter.com.
- 5
  Take a night flight in a small airplane to get a closer view of the aurora. If at all possible, have the pilot dim the cabin lights and ask ground control personnel for permission to turn off the strobe lights.
- 6
  Check a star chart such as nineplanets.org (see reference 5) to see what other cosmic objects are visible in the northern sky. You can often see other planets such as Venus and Jupiter with the naked eye, and an occasional satellite will float across the sky. Use a telescope to get a view of the aurora in the foreground with the more distant objects in our solar system.

Nature