Time Lapse Video of Northern Lights

by Tom Chandler on November 17, 2009 · 7 comments

I couldn’t resist posting this time lapse video of the northern lights – brought to us courtesy National Geographic.

I’ve never seen the northern lights in person, and until I do, I vow to remain suspicious. They appear too otherworldly to be real, and therefore may be a giant hoax being perpetrated on me by everyone else on the planet (tell me you haven’t had the exact same thought).

Technorati Tags: national geographic, northern lights

Tagged as: national geographic, northern lights

{ 7 comments… read them below or add one }

1 Simon Graham November 17, 2009 at 5:45 am

I’d always wanted to see them and since moving here to Finland I’ve been extremely fortunate to witness some truly amazing Northern light spectacles. Only last year my wife and I while guiding clients on a husky trek up in Northern Lapland bordering Norway when we stopped the dogs for an hour to watch them.They must have spanned some 600 km across the skyline. Blues,purples,pinks, chartreuse greens..I felt very privileged and was in total awe of the whole spectacle. The German clients we had said afterward that if the trek ended right there they would have been satisfied.

There’s a website available on the net that tells you where the best northern lights will appear for that day in the Northern hemisphere. Cant remember its name but we used it when clients wanted to spend the evening on the tundra looking for them. Will ask around and get back with the sites name.

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2 MHH November 17, 2009 at 6:27 am

I haven’t seen the northern lights, but I did see the southern lights when I was in the Antarctic almost nine years ago. Mostly greens and oranges. Viewed from the bow of an icebreaker in the middle of iceberg-choked ocean, they are simply staggering. The scale of things and the speed at which they shift and writhe is incomprehensible.

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3 cbchandler, cb November 17, 2009 at 8:57 am

I saw the Northern Lights as a child back in New York State. Better than Lazar light shows as they are all for free. A wonder…beautiful and mystical..

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4 Kentucky Jim November 17, 2009 at 10:18 am

I saw them once when I was a boy in Louisville, Kentucky. Man came on t.v. and said “Don’t worry folks, it’s not WWIII, it’s the northern lights.” Pinks, reds and greens, as I recall.

But I think you are right…I think it’s all done by Martians paid by the C.I.A. to ride in on ‘em into our televisions. Better cover your t.v. set with aluminum foil tonight before you go to bed, Tom.

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5 JK Smith November 20, 2009 at 5:01 am

They’re real alright. Living in Alaska you tend to see them all the time. On rare occasions I have seen extreme full spectrum displays that pretty much make your jaw drop. Some folks swear that you can hear a buzzing sound during the super duper shows – I saw & heard it once.

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