I’ve seen many videos but they all seem to be time-lapse photography. When viewing them IRL, do they actually look like they’re moving?
Yes.
Yeah, they move fairly quickly; sort of like curtains flapping slowly in the breeze. I’ve tried taking pictures, but you need a wide f-stop and very high ISO. The camera I used at the time was barely able to get pictures, and because of movement, the pictures were somewhat blurry. there was an urban legend where I used to live that people were convinced that making noise caused them to move… actually, they move all the time, they are dozens of miles up, and sound has no effect.
Absolutely.
Yes, they ripple, like curtains, as md2000 said. I used to watch them from my front porch in Calgary.
The only time I’ve ever seen the lights was when I was living in Oregon. I drove out to the desert to try to get the best view, because I’d heard that the aurora was particularly strong and further south than normal.
I watched for a while, but gave up after a while because I was getting really cold and there were some thunderstorms on the horizon.
Then I figured out that the lightning flashes I was seeing on the horizon was the aurora. So yes, they move quite visibly.
Note that there’s a lot of variability in the amount of movement. Sometimes you can see really active fast movements, sometimes it’s very slow and methodical.
Here’s a live cam you can watch them in real time. Not right now, of course.
Great question. I have always wondered this myself. Is there a video of them in real-time speed somewhere?
Also, are there places and certain times of the year where someone can go with a reasonable chance of seeing them in person (bucket list item)?
Fairbanks, AK between September and April. There is a lot of aurora activity there, but the weather doesn’t always cooperate. You will need arctic gear, as it gets brutally cold there in deep winter. Check this site for lodges.
I’m not entirely sure if this is realtime video or clever stuff with time lapse and dubbed voiceover (at about 4:40 in,
https://youtu.be/GZ8xd6xnZ9U?t=280
Taken in northern Norway
Related question:
Can someone explain the shape of aurora? The classic image seems to depict a curtain with a sharply defined bottom edge, a fuzzy/fading top edge, and vertical streaking. I get that the streaking is apparently related to particles following the earth’s magnetic field lines, but what of the fuzzy top edge, the wavy curtain shape, and the sharply defined bottom edge?
Looks real time, if occasionally a bit jerky.
WAG about the fuzzy top edge and sharper bottom edge:
The aurora is created by gas in the atmosphere being excited by incoming charged particles in the solar wind. These will have a higher chance of collision the deeper they are in the atmosphere, and there might be a sharp enough peak at the bottom to look like a sharp bottom edge. Add in that some of the colors you see only happen with ionized elemental gasses, and it might also have to do with the concentration of those in the upper atmosphere.
The wavy curtains have to be related to the magnetic field that guides the particles to the poles in the first place.
The aurora can manifest in many, many different ways. The first time I ever saw it, the entire sky was colored, and gradually changed color all over, while meanwhile every so often a white line would move across the sky like a windshield wiper. The second time I saw it, it was a big green amoeba floating in the middle of the sky, and gradually changing shape like an amoeba too. I’ve also seen it look like castles with many towers sitting on the horizon, and like the classic curtains. Once I even saw a transition: It started off as castles with towers, and then two castles on opposite ends of the sky got taller and taller until they met in the middle and formed a band across the sky, and then the band started rippling and forming into the curtains. Sometimes it’s just the band across the sky, or just a smudge in one patch of the sky, with no discernible details.
The best northern lights I’ve ever seen were in Regina, Saskatchewan. I was at a movie and when it was over I went by a fire exit straight outside: dark to dark, in other words.
The sky was PINK! Shimmering, dancing pink. Sheets and curtains, shimmering and shaking. It was a fantastic display, because I still had night vision from the darkened movie theatre.
Best EVAH!
The best aurora I’ve seen was coming out of a Christmas music program in Anchorage Alaska in early December in the late 70’s. It was probably 10 or 11 pm.
It was turquoise, and formed a huge spiral-ish swirl that gradually rippled into different shaped swirls.
That was 40 years ago this month, I’ve always remembered it.
It moved slowly but had totally changed shape to a different swirl in about 15 minutes.
My girlfriend wants to go to Iceland for her 30th next year in October to see the northern lights, but my dad went last year and said you basically can’t see much without a slow shutter on your camera.
So where’s best to see them in Europe without needing to look through a lens? ( End of october) Norway according to google?
Your dad might have just gotten unlucky. There’s no guarantee of a good display, or indeed of any display, no matter where you go or when.
All that said, your best bet is going to be during a time of high solar activity. That’s (roughly) on an 11-year cycle, and the most recent maximum was both very weak and several years ago. So next year, in general, is going to be a poor time. You’d be better off waiting until the mid-2020s.