Dancing lights in Anchorage, Alaska

If you're just merely interested in seeing swaying colors of lights in the sky, why not check out Anchorage, Alaska? Varieties of greens, yellows, pinks and blues swaying in the sky can only mark one thing and that's the path of the dancing aurora borealis. You can see the swirling Anchorage starlit sky as early as 8 p.m during the winter months. Northern lights are a result of ionized gas particles increasing their speed and density while stirring within the Earth's magnetic field. The result is an amazing phenomenon of lights that glow, dance, sway, and ripple and disappear only to reform a new shape a few minutes later. 

The best times to see the northern lights are in the fall, winter, and spring. The best hours to see them are usually at midnight but it's not a guarantee when the aurora will be out so you might be in for a disappointment. Visitors who wish to spot the northern lights plan to spend a few days in Alaska because the aurora is variable. Weather conditions and man-made light also greatly influence the ability to see the auroras, so my best guess it that if you want to see it, make sure it's a dark area so it can be clearly spotted. 

A historical significance of an aurora happened in early September 1859. A Scottish physicist Balfour Stewart described both aurora events documented by a self-recording mangetograph at the Kew Observatory and established a connection between the 2 September 1859 auroral storm and the Carrington-Hodgson flare event when he observed that, "It is not impossible to suppose that in this case our luminary was taken in the act." The second auroral event happened on 2 September 1859 as a result of a white light flare, produced by auroras so widespread and brilliant that they were seen and reported in published scientific measurements., ship logs, and newspapers. 

Disturbances behind the aurora also have effects on the modern world. Intense storm activity on the sun and the increase in charged particles interacting with Earth's magnetic field can disrupt power grids, satelillite communications and even radio stations believe it or not.

If you're even the slightest interested in the northern lights, Anchorage isn't the only place where you can find the northern lights, just be sure to travel over the northern hemisphere and you'll find lights around midnight dancing all over the sky!

http://www.alaska.org/things-to-do/northern-lights-viewing

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