What Makes a Northern Lights Flight So Magical
09 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.
About Pete Lawrence
Pete Lawrence has had a life-long interest in astronomy. As well as having several decades 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.
Pete also acts as an expert guide on specialist astronomical themed tours. To date Pete has fronted many trips on land, by air and onboard cruise ships to see such phenomena as the Aurora Borealis and total solar eclipses.
Many of his images have been published in books, magazines and online across the world. In 2014 he was awarded the Davies Medal for a significant contribution in the digital field of imaging science by the Royal Photographic Society.
What are the Northern Lights?
The Northern Lights are a natural phenomenon caused by an interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetic field. The solar wind describes the outflow of charged particles and magnetic field lines from the Sun. When it reaches Earth, if the conditions are right, the resulting light show can be spectacular, inspiring and astounding. A good display of the Northern Lights is something that will never be forgotten.
Also known as the Aurora Borealis, the lights occur in a ring around the Earth’s geomagnetic poles. The rings essentially indicate where the Earth’s magnetic field passes through our planet’s atmosphere. Known as auroral ovals, the southern oval indicates the location of the Southern Lights, or Aurora Australis. The northern oval is where the Northern Lights are found. The most active part of both rings is located on the opposite side of the Earth to the Sun, in other words, the night-side.
The northern auroral oval is typically located over arctic landscapes. From the majority of the UK it’s generally invisible. However, it can be seen from the far north of Scotland. Under very active solar conditions, the ovals can expand in size and when this happens it is possible to see the Northern Lights from locations further south than you would normally expect. This tends to be quite rare though.
How to get the best viewing experience
Usually you need to travel to locations that sit under your closest auroral oval. In the Northern Hemisphere this typically means a trip to Lapland, Northern Norway, Finland or Iceland. Four things can upset the view; natural sky brightness, moonlight, artificial light pollution and, of course, the weather!
Omega Experience’s Northern Lights Flights are carefully planned to eliminate all of these factors. By flying a jet aircraft to the very north of UK’s airspace, then turning all aircraft lights out, it’s possible to remove the effects of light pollution and weather. Sky brightness and moonlight are dealt with by careful scheduling.
Pre-flight presentation with the experts
Included in the cost of a Northern Lights flight, aurora hunters are also given a one-hour pre-flight presentation to explain what to expect in terms of the stars, constellations, planets and hopefully the aurora. The experience of getting to the presentation, listening to our expert presenters and preparing for the flight only add to what is a unique and rather wonderful experience.
After the presentation, we head to departures, passing through all the usual airport routines. Once on board the plane, we head north. During the initial leg of the flight, the on-board astronomers finalise the arrangement for the cabin to go dark. This typically happens 20 minutes or so, before we arrive on station, allowing everyone on board to experience true cabin darkness and for their eyes to sensitise to the dark. Then the aurora chase begins.
Photography
As our experienced experts take photographs of whatever is visible out of the plane windows, a continuous live commentary is provided to explain what we are looking at. The aurora is a natural phenomenon which may appear faint, obvious or sometimes so bright it lights up the cabin interior. This is the wonder of the Northern Lights flight experience.
If you fancy having a go at taking your own photos on one of our flights, don’t miss our next blog post all about photography tips. For now, we’ll leave you to imagine the wonder of looking at the night sky from 37,000 feet in complete darkness!