Travel

Only For Celebrities

Travel

Posted by: dint

19th Apr 2011 10:31am

Do ordinary folk ever get to experience the Northern Lights or take a jet flight into that realm beyond earth's atmosphere?

Timbo
  • 31st May 2011 10:41am

I have not had the fortune to see the Northern Lights although as a child in the 1950's I saw the faint glow of the Southern Lights in Sydney (when there was much less light in the night sky around Sydney).
For his 21st birthday in October 2002 I gave my son the present of travelling via train from Winnipeg to Churchill in Northen Manitoba, Canada. Churchill is on the shores of Hudson Bay and well above the latitude at which the Northern Lights are visible. From the train he saw one of the best displays of the Aurora Borealis that had been seen there for 12 years. The phenomenon is due to ionised particles in the upper atmosphere, energised by radiation from solar flares, being drawn into the strong magnetic field of the Earth near the North Pole. Solar flare activity seems to follow 11 year cycles and that was a peak year.
My son also saw polar bears and artic foxes up close from a "Tundra Buggy" on that trip. He even got to drive the 12 foot high buggy for a short time. I'd like to go one day!

Cancel

Help Caféstudy members by responding to their questions, or ask your own in Café Chat, and you will get the chance of earning extra rewards. Caféstudy will match these and donate equally to our two chosen Australian charities.

Food Bank Australia not only plays a lead role in fighting hunger, but also a vitally important role in tackling Australia’s $20 billion food waste problem and helping the environment.
Australian Marine Conservation Society are an independent charity, staffed by a committed group of scientists, educators and passionate advocates who have defended Australia’s oceans for over 50 years.
ReachOut is the most accessed online mental health service for young people and their parents in Australia. Their trusted self-help information, peer-support program and referral tools save lives by helping young people be well and stay well. The information they offer parents makes it easier for them to help their teenagers, too.