The Northern Lights are not an unusual sight in Northern Norway. In the south of the country, however, you don’t see it as often. But yesterday the situation was turned upside down. – In Tromsø there was less activity than further south. The greatest activity was actually over Trondheim, says Pål Brekke at the Norwegian Space Centre. Pictures on social media show the celestial phenomenon dancing in the sky in unusual places in the country. Like Stjørdal, Jotunheimen, Smøla and Kristiansand. Photos from Latvia and central Sweden are also shared online (external links). – Fun minutes when it lasts here in the south, says Steinar Nøkland, who managed to secure a picture of the northern lights at Eiken in Agder. – It was magical! I’m from Tromsø where this is not a rarity, so this made me feel a little more at home, says Julianne Brendeløkken in Stjørdal. Arne Flor in Arendal sums it up like this: – Absolutely fantastic. I was out early in the evening, and was about to pack up when it flared up just after midnight. Says the northern lights can last a long time The opportunity is not over. Also towards the weekend, there are opportunities to experience the northern lights in places where these do not normally “dance”. – When the solar storms hit the earth, they are often quite large. Often the effect will last for many hours, says solar physicist Pål Brekke. There are many tips on what you can do to get involved in such events. You will now find out about a slightly “secret” trick that many probably don’t know about. It can be used to see where in Norway there have been northern lights. And when it’s good to get out. – This is what I myself follow, says Pål Brekke. See video from northern lights over Arendal. Photo: Arne Flor. Have many instruments out What Brekke is talking about are magnetic field measurements from Norwegian stations. Measurements that are updated frequently on this page. It might look a bit advanced, but we’ll explain. This is what the measurements look like: Photo: FLUX.PHYS.UIT.NO Behind is the Tromsø Geophysical Observatory at UiT. Among others, researcher Magnar Gullikstad Johnsen works there. – We have instruments from Karmøy in the south to Ny-Ålesund in the north. In addition, we collaborate with others in the Nordics and Europe so we get a relatively complete picture. This means that So what exactly are we seeing on the graphs? Yes – when the curve at the station closest to where you are starts to fall, it means that something is about to happen up in the sky. – It is called a magnetic substorm, says Gullikstad Johnsen. Simply put, we can say that the stations measure variations in the earth’s magnetic field, and that when the curve descends steeply, there is usually a strong aurora above the station. The curve is updated every two minutes, says Pål Brekke. – So as soon as you see the curve start to fall, you should run out. Because then there are northern lights above you. Given that you are at the same latitude. Usually there will not be that much activity south of Røst. But yesterday there was an impact on stations in the far south of the country. – You have to add an hour to get Norwegian time when you study this graphic. So what you can see is that there was a lot of activity from around 9pm last night and a few hours ahead. “Thank you for the recent solar activity that resulted in this,” Nasa astronaut Bob Hines wrote about this image, which he posted on Twitter on Thursday. Photo: twitter.com/Astro_FarmerBob How to read the map When you look at the graphic, you will find the name of the station on the right. It is abbreviated with three letters. You can see a simple overview of the stations here: The red lines are so-called magnetic latitudes. The northern lights appear statistically between 65 and 75. Photo: Tromsø Geophysical Observatory UiT (if the map above is difficult to read on mobile, it is also available on UiT’s website). So what you can do to be a “pro” aurora hunter is: Find the abbreviation for your nearest station on the map above. Check the graphics to follow the activity at the station minute by minute. Run out if you see the line start to move strongly. And now there may be good reason to pay extra close attention, because the warning for a strong geomagnetic storm applies until 19 August. – With a little help from the direction of the magnetic field in the solar wind, it will certainly be possible to see the northern lights all over the country, says Gullikstad Johnsen. The advice is to look north. – You typically see northern lights in southern Norway with a KP value of 5 and higher. Wait, KP value? What is it? We have to deal with that before we round off this article. Here it will be cloudless KP describes the disturbance in the Earth’s magnetic field as a result of solar wind and solar storms. The number tells us how wide the aurora oval is, and thus also how far south one can experience the celestial phenomenon. Pål Brekke has sent news these illustrations from his book “Historien om nordlyset”, which illustrate how a high KP number means more northern lights further south. In Tromsø you often have the opportunity to see the northern lights, and at a KP of 2–3 the northern lights will lie directly above the city. Whereas in southern Norway, a KP of 5 and higher is the thing. – K7 has been notified tonight. It can be good down in Europe, such as northern Germany and Great Britain, says Pål Brekke. – Can the meteorologist cast a spell and make the clouds go away?, he says jokingly. Those who really want to follow along can download an aurora borealis app. You can then receive a push notification if the KP index exceeds a certain value for the location you are in. – Some of the apps also indicate a long-term warning. But the further in time the warning applies, the more uncertain it is, notes Pål Brekke. So then you just have to follow along and cross your fingers that it doesn’t get cloudy. According to meteorologist on duty Ole Bakke Aashamar, things look most promising in these parts of the country, in terms of cloudless skies: Finnmark, Troms and northern parts of Nordland look promising. The south and the north-west also seem to be fine. news has asked the Meteorological Institute to help with a cloud map, and this is the forecast: Photo: Meteorological Institute Do you have a picture? We would like to see your pictures and video clips of the Northern Lights. Feel free to let us know by e-mail!
Here is the trick that never fails – news Nordland
