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Star gazing in Alaska can be very rewarding, if you like the cold. During the summer months the days are long and the nights short. In Lake Clark National Park and Preserve you can not see the stars from late May until mid-August. At this time of year the night have enough light that no stars or only a few of the brightest are visible. North of the Artic Circle the sun does not set from mid-May until mid-August. In the fall and winter the night skies are beautiful. You see more stars than could be imagined. Remember, if you come to Alaska to star gaze you are very far north and the constellations appear a little different in the sky.
Alaska is also a great place to view other lights in the sky, the Northern Lights or Aurora Borealis. Simply put, the northern lights are caused by solar winds carry particles from the sun across space and hit the earth's atmosphere. When the particles hit the earth's atmosphere they release energy in the form of light, the Northern Lights.
A more detailed explanation, The sun has several holes in its corona. Through these holes high energy particles escape with extreme velocity. The particles are thrown out through the solar system, this is solar wind.
The solar wind that meets the daylight side of the earth compressed by the earth's magneto sphere. On the night side it is drawn out into a tail. The solar wind particles are accelerated down to the earth along open magnetic field lines. The open magnetic field lines are only at the polar regions. When the polar wind particles collide with particles in the earth's atmosphere their energy is released in the form of light. The aurora's colors are caused by gasses in the atmosphere. Green comes from oxygen and red from nitrogen.
Other Items of Interest About the Northern lights:
You are in luck because the years 2000-2001 are suppose to be good years for viewing the northern lights. There is going to be higher than average sun spot activity. This activity is on an eleven year cycle. In 1991 the northern lights reached their maximum activity in 300 years.
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Average
Percentage of Nights with Aurora |
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| The best
place to see the Northern Lights is around Fairbanks, Alaska, though
most of Alaska is a good place. Eastern Canada, Iceland and Northern
Scandinavia are also good places to view. Don't worry if you can not
get to these areas, with the high activity you might be able to see
them from home. During the winter of 2000 the Northern Lights were
reportedly viewed from Sarasota, Florida! Between the hours of 10pm
to 2am on a clear moonless night, is the best viewing time.
Aurora folklore from Labrador, Greenland, and Northern Norway were used to predict the weather. In Labrador, colored northern lights meant fine weather to come. In Greenland colored aurora predicted strong southerly winds and storms. In Northern Norway they indicated cold weather. As for the rumor that the aurora make crackling noises, there is no evidence. For more in formation on the northern lights visit the University of Alaska website. |
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