Southern lights

[Pommy]

Has anyone been down to Tasmania to see the southern lights?
Where's the best location time of year etc?
Have you seen the northern lights if so how do they compare?

 

[sensesmaybenumbed]

I haven't seen the northern lights to compare, but I did see the aurora borealis in a mans kitchen once.

Seriously though: here's a picture of the aurora australis:

I did see them in Tas in July years ago, apparently September is the best time to see it.

 

[retch]

If you go into Instagram and search #auroraaustralis you will get loads of photos and vids and most are geo located where they have taken the photos.

This one is from Taroona Tas.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Have you seen the northern lights if so how do they compare?

They're unlikely to be as spectacular as the northern lights when viewed from places like Alaska, Norway or Scotland because by comparison Tassie (or Southern NZ) aren't really that far south. Hobart is about 42 degrees south, Bluff in NZ 47. Compare that to say Anchorage, Oslo or Helsinki which are all at around 60 degrees north or Edinburgh at 55 degrees, that's a lot closer to the pole. By comparison tassie and NZ are at a comparable latitude to central France.
To get the same sort of view in the Southern Hemisphere you really need to go to southern Patagonia in Chile/Argentina or go on a cruise to the sun Antarctic islands. There's a LOT of ocean between us and Antarctica

 

[Pommy]

They're unlikely to be as spectacular as the northern lights when viewed from places like Alaska, Norway or Scotland because by comparison Tassie (or Southern NZ) aren't really that far south. Hobart is about 42 degrees south, Bluff in NZ 47. Compare that to say Anchorage, Oslo or Helsinki which are all at around 60 degrees north or Edinburgh at 55 degrees, that's a lot closer to the pole. By comparison tassie and NZ are at a comparable latitude to central France.
To get the same sort of view in the Southern Hemisphere you really need to go to southern Patagonia in Chile/Argentina or go on a cruise to the sun Antarctic islands. There's a LOT of ocean between us and Antarctica

I haven't seen either I did spend a about a month in the arctic circle but it was during summer so it never got dark enough to see anything.
Are they really comparable with France as I've lived throughout England and as far north as about Glasgow and never seen anything. I think to see them in Scotland you have to go way up although I'm not sure if it's light pollution that prevents it further south.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I haven't seen either I did spend a about a month in the arctic circle but it was during summer so it never got dark enough to see anything.
Are they really comparable with France as I've lived throughout England and as far north as about Glasgow and never seen anything. I think to see them in Scotland you have to go way up although I'm not sure if it's light pollution that prevents it further south.

Yeah we get the advantage of atmospheric clarity and less light pollution, so it's likely to be better here than somewhere at similar latitudes in the northern hemisphere. The UK has a ton of light pollution and often cloudy skies so not surprised you didn't see anything obviously light pollution in Tassie is way less of an issue, but seriously doubt it'd be as good as Scandinavia or Alaska. 15 degrees is a huge difference, we're talking probably 1500km closer to the pole.

 

[Vic Mackey]

I haven't seen either I did spend a about a month in the arctic circle but it was during summer so it never got dark enough to see anything.
Are they really comparable with France as I've lived throughout England and as far north as about Glasgow and never seen anything. I think to see them in Scotland you have to go way up although I'm not sure if it's light pollution that prevents it further south.

I'm going to Norway for Christmas this year and we're hoping to see them. Apparently this year is going to be the best chance to view in a while, I can't remember why but read that a few months ago. You need to go fairly north to be a chance. We're also doing a fortnight in Scotland but I don't recall reading anything about seeing the Northern Lights there?

 

[Pommy]

I'm going to Norway for Christmas this year and we're hoping to see them. Apparently this year is going to be the best chance to view in a while, I can't remember why but read that a few months ago. You need to go fairly north to be a chance. We're also doing a fortnight in Scotland but I don't recall reading anything about seeing the Northern Lights there?

We will probably be in Helsinki early December but only for a day so I doubt there's much scope to see them there.
You can see them in Scotland but it's not my that common and you need to be in the arse end of nowhere.

 

[deluded pom?]

I went to Iceland in January and was lucky enough to see the NL from central Reykjavik although for some reason the clarity you get from viewing them using a good camera was much better than we saw with the naked eye.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

I'm going to Norway for Christmas this year and we're hoping to see them. Apparently this year is going to be the best chance to view in a while, I can't remember why but read that a few months ago. You need to go fairly north to be a chance. We're also doing a fortnight in Scotland but I don't recall reading anything about seeing the Northern Lights there?

You'd be able to see them in Scotland but you'd want to to go up north, Edinburgh and Glasgow would have too much light polllution. But up past Inverness you'd stand a good chance once out of the city. Norway would be better still though.

 

[Pommy]

You'd be able to see them in Scotland but you'd want to to go up north, Edinburgh and Glasgow would have too much light polllution. But up past Inverness you'd stand a good chance once out of the city. Norway would be better still though.

My uncle lives in rural Caithness and it's still not a common occurance although it does happen.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

My uncle lives in rural Caithness and it's still not a common occurance although it does happen.

Cloud cover is probably the other factor to consider- if clear nights are relatively rare then that cuts down the chance of seeing the Aurora and like the rest of the UK, Caithness is hardly renowned for its clear skies!
Other than that I don't think the specific location affects aurora frequency much, basically they just become more frequent the further north you go, and then you just need to have to right conditions for them to be visible (dark sky, lack of clouds)

 

[Eion]

Saw the northern lights in Alaska 2 years ago. Pretty disappointed to be honest. It looked a lot better on a long exposure with a camera than it did to the naked eye.

Kind of a greyish green wavy cloud at night that came up a lot more vivid with the camera...but maybe it just wasn't a particularly bright show that night.

I've spent heaps of time down the snow here in Aus and once, and only once, saw a much brighter reddish aurora australis covering most of the sky. Had no idea what I was looking at at the time but that was spectacular. So if you get the chance to see it, I understand the further south you go the better your chance. Good luck.

 

[SpaceMonkey]

Well I'll be in Tassie for a week in June including a couple of nights in the central highlands where the sky should be nice and dark if it's clear, but not holding my breath too much for a show!

 

[retch]

https://www.facebook.com/auroraserviceAUS/

https://www.facebook.com/groups/auroraaustralis/