by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 20, 2015 | Destinations, Featured, Photography, Travel |
I received an e-mail alert earlier this evening ‘warning’ of a Solar Storm that promises to trigger an enhanced Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) event for tomorrow, April 20th.
According to the forecast the peak of the storm should take place at appromixately 02:00 UTC which will coincide nicely with overnight flights that depart the US and head for Europe.
Here is a map predicting the intensity of the event:
The Northern Lights should light up the skies over the North Atlantic.
A few weeks ago I was on a flight from Paine to Frankfurt and had the thrill of experiencing the Northern Lights for the first time in my life. They are worth staying up for!
The photos below are a little blurry, but with exposure requirements and the speed of the aircraft, this is the best I could do.
If you have a point-n-shoot or DSLR, you’ll want to set your exposure to 1-2 seconds and set your ISO to the 3000-5000 area and hold your camera FIRMLY against the window. However, you’ll have plenty of opportunity to experiment with your settings during the event to find the perfect combo for your camera set up. Using your phone to take pictures will probably not yield good results.
Without a camera you will still be able to see them if they are intense. If they are weaker, they will look like a thin stream of white clouds. At least thats what they looked like to me until the camera showed otherwise.
Hopefully your photos will be better than mine!
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 17, 2015 | 9525, Featured, germanwings |
Earlier today, a Memorial Service was held in Cologne to honor those lost in the Germanwings tragedy from a few weeks ago.
If you would like to watch the Memorial in German, even for a few minutes, you can find the full memorial by using this link. Please note that the Memorial starts at the ’15 minute mark’ of the video.
To watch the service with an English translation, please use this link.
by Lufthansa Flyer | Apr 17, 2015 | 9525, Featured, germanwings |
A memorial service will take place on April 17 at the Cologne Catherdral where thousands are expected to attend to honor the victims from the Germanwings tragedy.
The memorial, hosted by the German government and the state of North Rhein-Westphalia, will begin at 11:30a local time. Though the Cathedral will only be open to families of the victims, State guests (including Germany’s Chancellor Merkel, France’s Hollande and Spain’s King Philip) and senior Lufthansa leadership, accommodations have been made to allow thousands more to participate near the Cathedral. Large Screen Monitors have been set up in the vicinity of the Cathedral that can facilitate upwards of 5000 people to watch the memorial taking place inside.
Cologne Cathedral
For Lufthansa employees, the memorial will be broadcast throughout the company via their in-house network and intranet. Additionally, employees in the Frankfurt area can go to the cavernous A380 hangar where thousands of colleagues are expected to gather to watch the memorial’s simulcast. Over a thousand Germanwings employees in Cologne will be able to watch the event from the Gurzenich, a concert hall near the Germanwings headquarters.
Other employees throughout the LH network will have access to simulcasts in employee lounges and other employee ‘common areas’.
Notably and rightfully so, very little media is being admitted to the memorial. Only journalists and photographers with accreditation from the Bishop’s Conference will be allowed inside the Cathedral and only German television station ‘WDR’ will be allowed to broadcast the memorial.
Media is also being restricted at the large LH employee gathering expected at the A380 hangar in FRA. Only Lufthansa’s own photographers will be allowed to be inside during the broadcast of the memorial. This is being done to prevent the exploitation of the somber event and to allow airline employees to grieve privately as an organization.
