The report was looking promising for an excellent aurora that night and so, rather tired after a day on the tundra with the polar bears, we reconvened in the lobby at 9pm for a drive to the Stardrome. Rented permanently by Natural Habitats during polar bear season, this little odd trailer-home structure had a huge heated perspex bubble on the roof, accessible by a very narrow, steep ladder. And so it was, with a few bottles of red, my new female friends from the trip bravely set out to sit out the night praying that it was going to be a good aurora. Boys being boys of course, they rugged up and stood outside with tripods and fancy cameras and lens to try to capture the display.
Now an aurora is a natural light display in the sky particularly in the polar regions- so we were in prime position! It is caused by the collision of charged particles directed by the Earth's magnetic field. I was told that in fact they occur all the time but are best observed by the naked eye at night and in the rather narrow belt of between 60 and 72 degrees north and south latitudes. Wikipedia tells me they are named after the Roman goddess of dawn, Aurora,and the Greek name for wind- Boreas. There you have it!
Anyhow, for the next three hours we alternated between turning on the heater and fogging up the perspex...and turning it off and shivering as we watched the night sky unfold above our very heads. Firstly all the stars came out and, in a place with no competing lights from any habitation, we had pole position (pardon the pun) to pull out our primary school knowledge and partake in a few star guessing games. Given that at best the only one I can find is the Southern Cross I was bound to fail from the start!
And then finally the big event happened.
The sky started to shimmer and shake, the stars seemed to fade and lose their lustre and then whoosh- a multitude of greens hit the sky and started slowly dancing across the horizon. A huge ribbon of green that undulated and stretched, folding over itself and twisting before slowly straightening and creeping forward like an aged man as it moved above the tundra. Like tiny shooting stars, pinpricks of colour seemed to sparkle within the ribbon, bouncing with radiance and seemingly trying to escape the ghostly stream as it swirled and steadied itself, before moving again. Edges of red appeared in places seeming to further constrict the moving green band as the whiteness of the snow reflected the coloured mist further and the tundra stood in awed silence while the gods danced across the skies.
Sheets of green flew overhead as the whole sky seemed to turn into a ball of colour, undulating and pulsing as if to find its limits. Pale and ghostly, a line stretched across the horizon, merging into blues and purples as it spread and moved like flowing river streams across the night sky. At times it looked like thousands of ants, each with a tiny green light on their back, were marching in straight lines up and down the night sky- faster and faster they skipped and hopped and jumped in joyful abandonment up and down the coloured river banks as they pooled and eddied across the inky sky.
There was nothing but silence in the dome.....
Copyright: Thanks to Stephen Rademan www.stephenrademan.com who braved the outside all night taking these spectacular shots.
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