Revontulet

October 11, 2015 1:57 AM

In real time: the Northern Lights over Tromsø, Norway, earlier this month. Also on Vimeo.
posted by Wordshore (12 comments total)

Holy. That is nuts.
posted by smoke at 3:23 AM on October 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

Holy shit. I always thought they were more static strings of light that very slowly, almost imperceivably moving in the sky. I didn't realize they were that alive.
posted by ZaneJ. at 3:34 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Needs more humpback whales.

(Actually: spectacular even without.)
posted by progosk at 4:58 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Just gorgeous. Thanks! My husband said he saw them once as a kid in Brooklyn! I have never seen them in real life, but this peaceful video is great.
posted by mermayd at 5:00 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

One thing to do before you die
posted by growabrain at 7:02 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

This past summer we spent some time in Thunder Bay camping on the Kakabeka and one night I stuck my head out of the trailer for some reason at about 2 am and noticed a weird flashing in the sky. I got out and looked up and the northern lights were flashing across the sky in waves. Never seen anything like it before and I have since learned that it is actually quite rare for them to do that.

Also, for people now planning trips north to see them, note that the colours you see in videos/pictures are not exactly what you see with your eye. Still impressive, though, so don't let that dissuade you.
posted by Poldo at 8:16 AM on October 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

Fun fact: one of the two local newspapers in Tromsø is Nordlys ("The Northern Light").
posted by iviken at 8:19 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

Thunder Bay: 48.38 N
Tromsø: 69.68 N

From the photography article Poldo posted: applies to areas in the Northern Hemisphere around the 50 degree latitude mark or below

So it might actually be bright enough in Tromsø to see colors with the naked eye, as it is much further north.
posted by nat at 8:43 AM on October 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

Thanks for this beautiful thing.

I once saw curtain auroras, camping in Moab, Utah, March of 1970.
posted by Oyéah at 8:59 AM on October 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

one of my best friends was doing a wilderness survival course this summer on one of the islands off the coast of British Columbia. Spent the week eating mushrooms he'd foraged and salmon he'd caught. But the high light of his trip was swimming in the ocean at midnight (it was like 36 C heat) surrounded by bioluminescent plankton under the Northern Lighths. As he was treading water, marveling at the universe, a pod of humpback whales happened to swim by.


I fucking hate that guy.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 9:33 AM on October 11, 2015 [10 favorites]

I saw my first Northern Lights a couple of days ago from a parking lot in the middle of Glasgow. I was SO excited .. by something that essentially looked like a man waving a green fluorescent tube behind some trees. But I saw them! I saw them!

Next on my bucket list: seeing the Northern Lights NOT looking like a man waving a green fluorescent tube behind some trees.
posted by kariebookish at 10:54 AM on October 11, 2015 [4 favorites]

Holy shit. I always thought they were more static strings of light that very slowly, almost imperceivably moving in the sky. I didn't realize they were that alive.

The video is nothing unusual. I’ve seen them much more dynamic than that.

I haven’t bothered to go look at them for years. Due to the way my house is situated, I’d have to go outside and walk a block or two to get a decent view.
posted by D.C. at 2:08 PM on October 11, 2015