Melanie Windridge's Blog, page 7

The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen

My partner and I attended the Aurora lecture at Hertfordshire University earlier this week [December 2016].

When the presentation reached the part about northern Scotland, I was curious to hear if you knew about an old Scottish song relating to the Aurora, The Northern Lights of Old Aberdeen. It fits in with your other observations of the aurora – that it is more than just about science and has prompted people to write songs, poetry etc.

This is the song:

And these are the lyrics (courtesy...

Welsh Aurora & Dark Skies

For one reason or another, seeing unique phenomena in the place you call home makes the event even more special. I’ve seen solar eclipses, lunar eclipses, meteor showers and the northern lights – all from my home country of Wales.

Obviously the aurora aren’t as spectacular or breathtaking as you’d find further north but even getting a glimpse and capturing them on camera is special when it’s from home.

Startrails over Wales with the aurora behind.

I’m lucky to live relatively close (1hr dri...

Google Singapore’s Innovative Workspace

Entrance space of the new Google offices in Singapore.

Today I visited the new Google offices in Singapore. It’s a large and airy space, making use of timbers and plants to promote wellbeing (they even have moss on walls which, as well as providing a relaxed and pleasing backdrop also feed the room with oxygen). It’s a wonderful place to work, and Google is specifically recruiting engineers.

Google is growing in Asia Pacific and targeting the next generation of internet users. They are growi...

Hogmanay Light Show 2015

On the 31st December 2015 I experienced a very memorable passage from one calendar year to the next.

The sky was clear over my home town of Thurso in Caithness that night, and the aurora had been clearly visible but somewhat subdued on the northern horizon for most of the evening. The beginning of a new calendar year is often started with spectacular fireworks displays and celebrations across the world, but this new year there was a special treat for skywatchers in the north of Scotland as t...

Aurora Art

Ellie Mulhern is an artist based in Scotland who creates enchanting landscapes that capture the beauty of the hills, coastline and the northern lights.

“Aurora Reflections” by Ellie Mulhern

The northern lights have appeared in art long into the past. Before photography, it was only through art that the phenomenon could be captured at all. Historical works from central Europe in the sixteenth century show the aurora in the superstitious light of the time, depicting it as flames or knives in th...

Christmas Aurora book ideas

Pile of books about the northern lights – by Philip Pullman, Lucy Jago, Lucie Green, Melanie Windridge, Mindy Dwyer.

Christmas is just around the corner so here are some book ideas for the aurora fanatic in your life. Hopefully they have already read mine! Here are some others they might find interesting, inspiring or fun!

“The Northern Lights” book by Lucy Jago

The Northern Lights by Lucy Jago

A biography of Kristian Birkeland, the Norwegian physicist who made a profound contribut...

Aurora in the Eighties

A large, all-sky auroral display over Scotland in March 1982 captured on film.

My first photographic record of aurora was from October 1981. A non-astronomical friend called to say he’d seen something like searchlights and wondered if it was aurora. This display was just a couple of long rays from my location, and certainly stirred my interest, but the big one was on 1st-2nd March 1982 – the biggest auroral storm since the International Geophysical year in 1957-8. This storm went all-sky in c...

Planning an aurora trip – 5 tips

Northern Lights at Jokulsarlon Glacier Lagoon, Iceland.

Have you always dreamed of seeing the northern lights? With the aurora season ramping up, Best Served Scandinavia’s top Northern Lights agent, Maddie Eleini, gives her top 5 tips for planning a Northern Lights holiday.

1. Book far in advance to get the best price/availability

Particularly if you want an unusual hotel (like an ice hotel or glass igloo, see below), dates can get snapped up quickly much earlier in the year than you may real...

Dream trip – Lusto, Finland

In January 2015 I finally managed to fulfil one of my travel dreams – to see the northern lights. In honesty, I was nervous about the trip since I’m more of a villa, pool and pile of books kind of person than an activity enthusiast, particularly in temperatures of -20C. But my boyfriend was interested in the activities on offer (which included skidoo trips, husky sledding, ice fishing, reindeer farms and skiing), and I wanted to see the aurora, so we went for it.

My boyfriend and I booked the...

Surprising power of solar storms

During solar storms the Earth’s atmosphere receives huge amounts of energy from the charged particles and ultraviolet radiation hitting it. A big solar storm can dump as much energy in the atmosphere as could power the whole of New York City for 2 years! Some of this energy we see as the aurora, but the atmosphere also heats up, and 95% of this energy is radiated back into space by carbon dioxide and nitric oxide.

There really is so much more power up there than meets the eye as the aurora!

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