A Review of a Northern Lights Flight
23 July 2020 - Omega
This article has been written especially for Omega Breaks and comes from astronomical observer Pete Lawrence - famous for his work on the BBC's Sky at Night.
Having accompanied literally hundreds of Northern Lights flights, one recurring question I get asked is whether I get bored of seeing the aurora. The answer is no, and the reason is simply that you’re never sure what you’re going to get to see. There’s always an air of excitement before a flight. Although aurora forecasts can help give an overview of what’s going to happen, unexpected things do occur. Some flights have had poor forecasts but brilliant displays, some great forecasts but with little activity.
I’ve been working with Omega since 2005, and have seen many spectacular displays. In 2010 we were scheduled to fly from Bristol airport to our usual aurora hunting ground at the northern edge of British airspace. On this occasion, excitement was heightened by an active geomagnetic storm in progress, a turbulent interaction between Earth’s magnetic field and the stream of energetic particles and magnetic fields from the Sun called the solar wind. The storm had excited the northern auroral oval – the ring of auroral activity around the Earth’s northern geomagnetic pole – to such an extent that it had expanded and moved further south.
One problem we have when trying to predict the aurora is to show caution when describing what we’ll see. On one flight, as we headed north, the flight deck saw a spectacular aurora ahead and announced it over the cabin intercom. As the plane turned to give the passengers a view, the aurora faded to nothing!
What made this one so special?
On our February 15 2010 Bristol flight the team were eagerly hopeful but tried to underplay it to the audience - just in case. On this occasion, we were joined by a commercial pilot who loved flying with us so much, he actively changed his roster to do so. He had flown us before on a number of successful aurora spotting trips and understood our need to get as far north as possible before taking up the east-west/west-east race-track pattern needed to view the aurora. As we got on board, ‘our’ pilot popped over, said he knew the drill and would get us on station as fast as he could.
We took off and got our customary pre-spotting routines done as quickly as feasible. The first 40-45 minutes of flight time is dedicated to getting these routines done as we head north. They include pre-darkness briefings and instructions on how to photograph the aurora. Getting the lights out after 40-45 minutes gives us sufficient time to properly dark adapt on the last part of our route north. This is important to get everyone as sensitised as possible for aurora viewing.
However, on this occasion, true dark adaption wasn’t needed because the aurora was intensely bright! In fact, it was so bright that it was hard to see that other flight highlight, the stunning Milky Way cascading down towards the horizon. This was a problem we decided we could live with! A problem we couldn’t ignore, however, was the fact that the auroral oval had expanded so far south, that we were literally underneath it. Lacking ceiling windows in our aircraft, we had to take the unusual step to ask the flight deck to head south so we could see the lights properly.
Everyone lit up with a green glow
And, oh what a view it was! The lights were spectacular with a definite lime green colour. Pink was seen at the base of the complex light curtains visible out of the cabin windows. Looking down the dark cabin I could see everyone lit up with a green glow. The excitement was palpable. Even the cloud tops below us were bathed in an eerie green glow. Then, while giving commentary from the front galley, I heard a large gasp from the cabin. Apparently, a bright meteor had appeared. Fortunately, my camera was operating automatically and caught the trail through the plane window; a double trail due to the event being so bright it doubly reflected in the window material.
That was one flight I’ll never forget but in truth, there are many more just as exciting. And this is the beauty and the captivating reason for flying to see the Northern Lights. You really don’t know what you are going to see. In many ways, it’s a bit like going on a celestial fishing trip, but not as cold!
About Pete Lawrence
Pete Lawrence has had a life-long interest in astronomy. As well as having several decades of experience as an astronomical observer, Pete holds an honours degree in Physics with Astrophysics from the University of Leicester.
He has presented an observing section on the long-running BBC Sky at Night television programme since 2004 and also compiles, writes and illustrates the 16-page monthly Sky Guide for the Sky at Night Magazine.