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March 12, 2013
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Chances are, unless you’ve been lucky enough to see them in person, you will have seen the northern lights in a time lapse video online. But have you ever seen them just as they would play out in real life?
Kai-Marius Pedersen is a northern lights hunter who records videos of real time aurora. No distracting music, no montages containing weeks worth of images in a few minutes. This is his first real time aurora video from a few months ago:
And his second is even more spectacular:
I have a lot of time for polished videos and grand effects, but sometimes it’s nice to get as close to the real thing as possible.
Note: The featured image for this post is a view of the northern lights from the International Space Station. A real view that you’ve almost certainly never seen before…
(via @cosmos4u)
About the Author: Kelly Oakes has a master's in science communication and a physics degree, both from Imperial College London. Now she spends her days writing about science.
Follow on Twitter @kahoakes.
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headed for the NW territories in the next yr or so. Nice to see exactly what I could actually see.
- dave
Link to thisGood luck, dave! I was in Iceland a month ago and saw them – nowhere near as bright or lively as this, but being there in person made up for that.
Link to thisI have seen the northern lights several times when I lived in Valdez, Alaska and a few times in Fairbanks. I have never seen a more beautiful sight in my entire life. It is the one thing I miss most since leaving Alaska in 1999.
Link to thisI spent a year on St. Lawrence Island in the Bering Sea. I watched with fascination as these lights danced above my head so close, you could almost reach out and touch them. Amazing they made no sound. Back in ’69. I miss that part of the experience.
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