# Southern most Aurora? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 8, 2012, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136 "2012-03-08T09:04:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 9:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/1 "2012-03-08T09:04:45Z")
Usually auroras don’t get as far south as the US (other than Alaska), but there is a big solar flare headed our way so I got my hopes up. But the forecast is still well within Canada and the “level” is still only 4 out of 9. So I’m curious, what’s the furthest south it’s ever reached in recorded history, and what level was it as? For that matter, how are the levels measured? Does it reach further north in the southern hemisphere due to the bigger ozone hole there? ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 9:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/2 "2012-03-08T09:32:54Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > So I’m curious, what’s the furthest south it’s ever reached in recorded history, and what level was it as? Antarctica. It was fairly bright. 😉 > [@](#): > > Does it reach further north in the southern hemisphere due to the bigger ozone hole there? The Aurora is caused by solar winds striking the upper thermosphere. The ozone layer is in the lower stratosphere. [They are a long way apart.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/9/9a/EarthAtmosphereBig.jpg) Needless to say, one does not affect the other. ---
**Author:** ![benbo1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@benbo1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/benbo1)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/3 "2012-03-08T10:29:46Z")
a science dweeb on the radio just said this will make the Aurora Borealis visible down to latitude 46 - Oregon, Idaho, Minnesota, & Maine (remember, usually only viewable at the North Pole & North Canada). ---
**Author:** ![Cub\_Mistress](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ea666f/32.png) [@Cub\_Mistress](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cub_Mistress)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/4 "2012-03-08T12:37:36Z")
I’ve seen the aurora in Middle Tennessee. It was only two green patches of light, but still, it was there. ---
**Author:** ![wedgehed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8edcca/32.png) [@wedgehed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wedgehed)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/5 "2012-03-08T13:31:03Z")
It’s recorded that the northern lights were visible over the Fredericksburg battlefield in Virginia during the Civil War. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/6 "2012-03-08T14:43:46Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > a science dweeb on the radio just said this will make the Aurora Borealis visible down to latitude 46 - Oregon, Idaho, Minnesota, & Maine (remember, usually only viewable at the North Pole & North Canada). Wasn’t there one last year as visible south as Texas? [Yes there was](http://www.nbcdfw.com/weather/stories/Northern-Lights-Creep-Into-Texas-Skies-132542658.html). ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/7 "2012-03-08T14:58:29Z")
i don’t have any data. i seem to recall one that was visible in Louisiana. ---
**Author:** ![Grey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/8 "2012-03-08T15:13:01Z")
The [Carrington Event of 1859](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859) is considered the largest recorded solar event with auroras recorded in the Caribbean. > [@](#): > > On September 1–2, 1859, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm occurred. Aurorae were seen around the world, most notably over the Caribbean; also noteworthy were those over the Rocky Mountains that were so bright that their glow awoke gold miners, who began preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning.[3] People who happened to be awake in the northeastern US could read a newspaper by the aurora’s light.[4] > > Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed, in some cases even shocking telegraph operators.[5] Telegraph pylons threw sparks and telegraph paper spontaneously caught fire.[6] Some telegraph systems appeared to continue to send and receive messages despite having been disconnected from their power supplies.[7] ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/9 "2012-03-08T19:33:24Z")
I read once, probably the Guinness Book of Records, that the Aurora Borealis has been seen in Singapore, 1 deg N latitude. ---
**Author:** ![fiddlesticks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddlesticks/32/18129_2.png) [@fiddlesticks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fiddlesticks)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/10 "2012-03-08T19:42:31Z")
If(/When) a storm the size of the 1859 one happens again, we won’t have to worry about light pollution ruining the view of the aurorae. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/11 "2012-03-08T19:51:38Z")
I’ve seen the aurora several times in Chicago, but others have already noted sightings which are considerably further south. ---
**Author:** ![Bumbershoot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bumbershoot/32/3428_2.png) [@Bumbershoot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bumbershoot)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/12 "2012-03-08T19:56:32Z")
About 10 years ago, I saw a faint red glow in the night sky south of Albuquerque. I thought it was a fire somewhere. I read in the paper the next day that it was the Aurora. I saw a very impressive display in northern Indiana about 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/13 "2012-03-08T21:56:32Z")
I believe that the Aztecs saw the Aurora in 1519 in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), and counted it as a bad omen. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/14 "2012-03-08T22:28:28Z")
> [@Cub\_Mistress](#): > > I’ve seen the aurora in Middle Tennessee. It was only two green patches of light, but still, it was there. I saw it in middle Tennessee a few years ago, but it was a big red glow in the northern sky. It looked like maybe there was a huge forest fire just over the horizon. It was cool and kind of freaky. ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/15 "2012-03-08T23:03:30Z")
> [@appleciders](#): > > I believe that the Aztecs saw the Aurora in 1519 in Tenochtitlan (Mexico City), and counted it as a bad omen. At least you didn’t say Mayan … 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/16 "2012-03-08T23:31:53Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I’ve seen the aurora several times in Chicago, but others have already noted sightings which are considerably further south. I’m jealous. Did you have to be pretty far outside the city? I’d imagine the city lights would make them difficult to see, but I have no idea how bright these auroras are. ---
**Author:** ![bonitahi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7993a0/32.png) [@bonitahi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bonitahi)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2012, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/17 "2012-03-08T23:39:10Z")
> [@benbo1](#): > > usually only viewable at the North Pole & North Canada). I’ve seen them numerous times north of Syracuse and in the Catskills. Full monti auroras, too ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/18 "2012-03-09T00:16:26Z")
> [@](#): > > I read once, probably the Guinness Book of Records, that the Aurora Borealis has been seen in Singapore, 1 deg N latitude. That would have actually been the aurora australis. Singapore is north of the rotational equator, but what matters for the aurorae is the magnetic field, not the rotation. And since the magnetic pole is up in Canada (and at a point opposite on the Earth), Singapore is actually closer to the pole in the south. It’s also actually very rare to see the aurora right at the magnetic poles: It’s a ring around the pole. And I’ve seen the Lights about 8 times since I’ve been in Montana (at 45:40 degrees). ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/19 "2012-03-09T08:58:29Z")
To clarify for the smart asses, replace “southernmost” with “closest to the equator”. ---
**Author:** ![Blake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a9a28c/32.png) [@Blake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Blake)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 9:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/20 "2012-03-09T09:48:36Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > To clarify for the smart asses, replace “southernmost” with “closest to the equator”. Smart asses? The SDMB does not have an smart asses. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136.md?page=2)