Tag: Arctic

Want to Feel Good? Watch the Aurora Borealis in HD

The Aurora from Terje Sorgjerd on Vimeo.

I actually posted this jaw-dropping video on Discovery News last month, but today it got picked up on Digg, so I was reminded why I had to feature it.

The video is actually composed of 22,000 high-definition photographs, stitched together is a finely crafted time lapse video. The photographer in question is Terje Sorgjerd who braved -22C temperatures in the Arctic Circle to bring us this stunning perspective of the Aurora Borealis, or the Northern Lights. Throw in the Hans Zimmer “Gladiator” theme tune “Now We Are Free” and we get a timeless classic video that can be watched over and over again and never get bored.

So, sit back and enjoy the Sun-Earth interaction at its most spectacular.

For more of Sorgjerd’s work, check out his Facebook page.

Special thanks to my good friend Geir Barstein, science journalist at the Norwegian newspaper Dagbladet for originally writing about Sorgjerd’s work.

Standing Under the Aurora

Under an auroal display in 2004 above a Harstad (Norway) communications tower (NASA)
Under an auroal display in 2004 above a Harstad (Norway) communications tower (Frank Andreassen/NASA)

In 2002, I remember standing on the ice-crusted snow in Svalbard, looking up, in awe of what I was seeing. Dancing overhead, stretching from horizon to horizon was my first aurora. Predominantly green and highly structured against the inky black 24 hour night, the highly dynamic plasma danced, much like a curtain in the wind. Occasionally, I would see the ribbons of green scatter, forming a radiant pattern, much like today’s NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day (APOD), above.

Seven years ago, I was studying the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s upper polar atmosphere with four friends for five months at The University Centre in Svalbard, and it is an experience I’ll never forget. Seeing this dazzling view from a communications tower in northern Norway stirs some amazing memories of my stay on this unique island in the high arctic, watching the light generated as the solar plasma spiralled down Earth’s magnetic field, interacting with our atmosphere.

From that magical day onward, I never underestimated the beauty of physics again…