Omega Holidays Northern Lights Flight
Bristol Airport (BRS), December 20th 2006
Flight Report
During the week before Christmas '06, dense fog threatened many of the airports
from which Omega were intending to operate their popular Northern Light Flights.
However, despite many flight cancellations across the country, Northern Lights chasers
weren't to be deterred and all of the flights took off as planned.
On the afternoon of the 20th, the fog was thick in patches around Bristol Airport
but as the time approached for the pre-flight presentation, conditions around the
airport itself improved considerably allowing early arrivals to witness a rather
beautiful sunset.
The presentation on this occasion was given by myself (Pete Lawrence) and Ian Sharp,
both West Sussex astronomers. Lasting for an hour, the presentation was divided into
two parts. The first covered the logistics of the flight itself and some basic
navigational guides to help passengers identify the main constellation shapes
from the plane windows. The second part of the presentation concentrated on the
aurora; what it is, where it comes from and what the passengers could expect to
see that night.
Following the preentation, a short hop to the new airport terminal, a pass
through security and then we were ready for the flight itself.
Auroral Activity
Rather ominously, the sunspot count had dropped to zero for this particular flight.
The hotel where the NLF presenters were stationed overnight, unfortunately had
no internet facilities (they were in the process of installing broadband while we were
staying there!). Fortunately, the airport staff came to our rescue and allowed us
net access just before the presentation. This turned out to be rather useful as
SpaceWeather.com had recently been updated to show that a strong solar wind
was in force and there was a possibility of a decent auroral display later that
night.
Forty minutes into the flight, the aircraft cabin was plunged into darkness and
everyone was allowed time to dark adapt. As we flew north, a faint glow in the
north became visible showing a strong lower edge; typically indicative of the
aurora. Throughout the flight we were treated to a reasonably bright display showing
muted green colouration. A distinct hook structure was present for much of the flight.
As the plane turned to take everyone home, looking northward it was evident that the
aurora had intensified and started to show rapidly moving structure - typical!
A look at the activity plot for this night showed that the burst activity was relatively short
lived. If the pilot had turned the plane for an additional look, the likelyhood
is that the heightened activity would have been short lived!
Photographic Results
Photographing the lights from a plane isn't the easiest task in the world. The lights
normally require an extended exposure of several seconds to record properly. During
this time the plane or the photographer is prone to move. To keep the exposure
times as short as possible, the camera is set to a high sensitivity (ISO) setting
which inevitably introduces noise (the grainy appearance of the images).
Here are some selected images from the night of the 20th, which don't do the visual
display justice at all!
Additional Links
Omega Holidays plc
Space weather forecasts and related information
NLF Presenter Paul Money's website
NLF Presenter Ian Sharp's website
Auroral activity from the Univerity of Lancaster
Auroral oval plots
Auroral photographs taken from Selsey on the UK's south coast
When's the Sky at Night next on?
For information on what's visible in the night sky every month (and much more)...
Pete Lawrence