thats excellent , thanks for sharing. I would like to see them one day, I just have to arrange a holiday some where cold and very northern
I'd intended to add the link to this picture taken at Callanish on Lewis but forgot so here it is:
The Northern Lights - colincameronphotography
A lot of people say this but the truth is that there are parts of the UK that are as far north as Canada and Alaska plus the Northern Lights is a pretty variable event. So, spending thousands on a trip to Alaska, while it might be fun, is not always the best way to see the lights as you might get there to find there is no sun activity plus your trip is likely only to be a week or two and the chances of it coinciding with a display is slim. People do go to Alaska, Canada, Norway and other places and see the lights but you rarely hear about all those who go and see nothing.
A friend who had declared that he wanted to see the lights before he dies and who was intending to spend thousands on a trip to Alaska was too busy watching TV when I phoned him one night to say that there was a great display going on over his back garden!! This gives some idea of the power of the marketing that tells us that we need to spend money and travel thousands of miles to see aurora.
The other side to this is that the current solar cycle has been very weak and it is possible we might enter a Maunder Minimum which means we might have little or no chance of seeing aurora for several generations to come. Under these circumstances it would be unwise to spend a lot of cash to try and see something that no one can see, and that no one is going to see for many years.
The downward edge of a solar cycle often produces the best displays and the sunspot that gave us the display last night is still active and still has potential to put on an even better show, if we get lucky. Given this the next 10 days might have as good a chance as any other time in, literally, the next 300 years. Also the period up until next Winter/Spring has potential. Actually predicting when, or the time of night, it just impossible and the best thing you can do is watch the magnotometer and see if it deviates dramatically and then get out to a local area with dark skies:
AuroraWatch UK
Or take a look at the Dollag's Cottage web page for all the info, Lewis had a spectacular display last night:
Dollag's Cottage aurora and northern lights page