Nicolas Biver's Northern Lights Page

Last updated: 5 Feb. 2018 UT

AURORAE BOREALIS

2017 AURORAE

2005 AURORAE

2/3 February 2005: airborne 3:40-5:40 UT

Aurorae seen over two hours from flight AF065 (LosAngeles - Paris) above Canada (Lat~50°N). Pictures (Sensia 400 slides) taken with handheld camera with 50mm F/1.4 behind window - no tracking!! and moving plane...

~03h41 UT (4h05 after take-off) ~8sec.	~03h43 UT ~5sec.	~03h45 UT ~10sec.
~03h49 UT ~10sec.	~03h49 UT ~10sec.	~03h50 UT ~5sec.
~03h48 UT drawing	~03h50 UT drawing	~04h03 UT drawing
~03h52 UT ~8sec.	~04h00 UT ~8sec.	~04h06 UT (4h30 after take-off) ~5sec.
~04h08 UT ~3sec. (high resolution version [424Kb]	~04h09 UT ~4sec.	~04h17 UT ~2sec.
~04h12 UT drawing	~05h04 UT drawing	~05h32 UT drawing

2003 AURORAE

21 November 2003: 1:00-5:30 UT

Aurorae seen all night from flight UA960 between Winnipeg (Canada) and South of Iceland - views from North side but most was up and to the south.

Observing conditions: 10500 m elevation, speed 1010 km/h, lat. 50 to 63 N

~01:00 UT (drawing)

~01:12 UT (drawing)

01:25-01:30 UT (drawing)

01:42-01:45 UT (drawing)

03:18-03:20 UT (drawing)

03:30-03:33 UT (drawing)

~4:00 UT , (drawing)

01:36 UT 4s 50mm F/D=1.4

(Hercules: Hand-held behind window!!)

03:39 UT 10s 50mm F/D=1.4

(Hand-held behind window!)

(Bright stars: Eta UMa, Beta & Gamma Boo)

9 September 2003 airborne: 4:50-5:17 UT

5:17 UT (drawing)

2001 AURORAE

11 April 2001: 21:25-22:20 UT

Nice aurora seen from FRANCE!, at Poigny-la-Foret. Towards North-West to NEE.

Brightest and greenish at the horizon. Drawings below: ( purple should be redder - First try to draw in CMY -> RGB)

21:25 to 21:34 UT , (drawing)

21:36 to 21:45 UT , (drawing)

21:48 to 22:20 UT , (drawing)

22 April 2001: 22:55-23:20 UT

From Kiruna, SWEDEN (68 deg. N): Unfortunately the sky was not very good: cirrus and never dark (Sun only 9 degrees below horizon!! - at this time of the year). Picture were taken from inside the city, too. If it had been in a dark sky, it would have been quite impressive - it was already.

Note that the following pictures were taken roughly every 30sec., lasting half this time: the changes were dramatic within seconds. The bright star is Arcturus (Bootes).

Pictures (Kodak Gold 400) quickly scanned: (They should be actually more greenish (as the third one and second set):

And aurora seen towards Zenith (look for Ursa Major and Mizar & Alcor):

See also the short exposure times to get the bright and fast moving phenomenon:

22:56 UT 28mm F/D=3.0 20 sec.	22:56 UT 28mm F/D=3.0 15 sec.	idem, a bit color corrected
22:57 UT 28mm F/D=3.0 15 sec.	22:57 UT 28mm F/D=3.0 10 sec.	22:59 UT 28mm F/D=2.8 20 sec.
23:19 UT 50mm F/D=1.4 1 sec.!	23:21 UT 50mm F/D=1.4 5 sec.!	23:22 UT 50mm F/D=2.0 7 sec.!

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* observations in progress... *	Nicolas Biver - 14 February 2005