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!
Excelent post with great info! Sadly I won’t be flying that route tomorrow, but Hopefully one day!
That’s a lot of extra radiation you’ll be subjected on the flight. I’ll pass.
First time I flew British Airways First Class SFO-LHR about 14 years ago, the flight attendant suggested I move to the other side of the empty cabin if I wanted to see something amazing. I spent a couple of hours with my hands cupped around my face looking out the window at an absolutely amazing display of the aurora borealis. Truly hypnotic.
I had seen the northern lights before in Vermont during the winter of 1981.
Saw them the night of March 14-15, LH 491, SEA-FRA.
We were on the right side 4J,K and a very intense show for over
half and hour. Our flight path favored the right side.
We flew under them as we crossed over Iceland.
Truly AMAZING! Correct, iPhones are useless, but I was able
to check the AB off my bucket list.