# Southern most Aurora?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136>\
**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:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![JBDivmstr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b4bc9f/32.png) [@JBDivmstr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JBDivmstr)\
**Post date:** [March 9, 2012, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/21 "2012-03-09T10:39:40Z")

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> [@Blake](#):
>
> Smart asses?  
> The SDMB does not have an(y) smart asses.

Really? None? At all? :dubious:

What about asses, that are smart? 😃

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**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\
**Post date:** [March 10, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/22 "2012-03-10T07:15:25Z")

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> [@Chronos](#):
>
> 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.

Wouldn’t it be kinda obvious whether you were seeing borealis or australis according to which horizon it was closest to? :dubious:

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**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 11, 2012, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/23 "2012-03-11T06:00:29Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> Wouldn’t it be kinda obvious whether you were seeing borealis or australis according to which horizon it was closest to?

No. As I said, the aurora forms a ring, so if you’re inside that ring, you’d see the northern lights to your south, or vice-versa.

They’re also symmetric, though (the northern ring is an image of the southern one), so there’s no way they could cross the magnetic equator.

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**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/24 "2012-03-11T07:44:54Z")

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How far north is the magnetic equator from Singapore, and from how far away could you see the aurora over the horizon, given that it’s a good many miles above the surface of the Earth?

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**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\
**Post date:** [March 11, 2012, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/southern-most-aurora/615136/25 "2012-03-11T17:50:10Z")

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> [@Grey](#):
>
> 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.

That is amazing; I’d never heard of it. What I wouldn’t give to see something like that!

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