Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights

[Cookie]

On BBC 1 On Sunday 9pm looks quite good

An amazing journey in Norway's Far North as Joanna Lumley pursues a life-long dream to track down the elusive, stunningly beautiful Northern Lights - 'the true wonder of the world' as she puts it.

Joanna grew up in tropical Malaysia, and as a little girl had never seen snow or felt cold. But inspired by the fairy tales and picture books of the North, she always longed to make this journey.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcone/listings/progr...0_4223_25688_60

[Snowyowl9]

Yep this looks interesting I havn`t seen a programn about northern lights before.

I`ve seen them last time was on april 11th 2001 which seems along while ago now.

[0000]

Yep this looks interesting I havn`t seen a programn about northern lights before.

I`ve seen them last time was on april 11th 2001 which seems along while ago now.

I would so love to see them,where did you observe them Snowy?

[Snowyowl9]

I would so love to see them,where did you observe them Snowy?

To the north of here spring is better for me to see them for some reason.

Programn on now.

[0000]

To the north of here spring is better for me to see them for some reason.

Programn on now.

am watching

[0000]

That is utterly,utterly amazingly beautiful!!! wow

[James M]

So she didn't see it then? or did they have to use a different camera to show the lights which made it look like that?

[Marcus_surfer]

I watched it, I would hope the BBC didn't enhance it in anyway, it was beautiful to see, maybe one day I will see them

It did look fake, but looking at the sky without street lights makes the sky look very different so i would have said it was all real, Amazing.

[0000]

It did look fake, but looking at the sky without street lights makes the sky look very different so i would have said it was all real, Amazing.

Yup I agree Marcus,just coz it looked too good to be true doesn't mean it wasn't.Great programme,thanks for pointing it out cookie mate

[James M]

I watched it, I would hope the BBC didn't enhance it in anyway, it was beautiful to see, maybe one day I will see them

It was just that it seemed like she wasn't really there, as if she or the lights were superimposed on to the screen, unless that's just the camera they used to get the full effect of the aurora? and I thought the lights would be reflected on the ground, which it didn't when they cut to Joanna talking. Maybe it's just me though

But I did think it was a great program, I remember the one she did a while back in Africa.

Edited September 7, 2008 by James M

[0000]

It was just that it seemed like she wasn't really there, as if she or the lights were superimposed on to the screen, unless that's just the camera they used to get the full effect of the aurora? and I thought the lights would be reflected on the ground, which it didn't when they cut to Joanna talking. Maybe it's just me though

But I did think it was a great program, I remember the one she did a while back in Africa.

that was the bra slippers one-or was it?

[johnholmes]

have seen them twice but nothing like the intensity shown on the programme, quite superb, indeed the whole programme had the most fabulous scenery and quite how the reds in the Sumai clothes were made so vivid is something I would love to know.

[johnholmes]

once on Shetland even though it was, if my memory is correct, early summer, and once when I first started work, many many years ago, oddly enough not far from here, at RAF Worksop, one night duty in, again I think, February 1957 or maybe 1958.

Like I posted though Jan very very faint, even in Shetland, compared to what was shown tonight.

Working in the Met Office was an advantage as alerts were issued by(??) as to when they would probably occur. Usually the code showing them at the end of the weather message was the way of reporting them. Often, the first reports would appear from parts of Scandinavia, then northern Scotland, sometimes they would occur as far south as the middle of France before fading away.

Edited September 7, 2008 by johnholmes

[Cakie]

I missed the programme but back in 2001 I was on my way back from Florida during one of the worst solar flares of recent times and we ended up going over the equivalent and it was very beautiful (if seriously scary due to the affects on the electrics on the plane )

[johnholmes]

winter is the best and the further north the better

[Snowyowl9]

I`ve never seen them in winter, spring and autumn the only time and I`ve seen them and once in august 1990 that was only by luck red/orange in that one to the north.

It did look fake, but looking at the sky without street lights makes the sky look very different so i would have said it was all real, Amazing.

I liked the igloo hotel it melts in mid-april and the work that goes into making that after all that.!!!!!!

Thats the key get away from any street lights in the country

As for it looking fake looked at the stars which stayed/clouds they moved slowly.

Edited September 8, 2008 by Snowyowl9

[Coast]

Stunning photography of a beautiful place with Joanna giving her usual, enthusiastic commentary.

My jury's out on the actual aurora shots as she did indeed seem to be 'remote' from the filming. I think at worst they may have missed the lights and added in some pre-filmed ones afterwards, it would be disappointing to think they were CGI animations or similar, but these days........

[Snowyowl9]

Thats how they look in real life,they looked speeded up to how I`ve seen them though, might be different up there.

Edited September 8, 2008 by Snowyowl9

[frogesque]

The lights can be slow moving or highly dynamic with short (less than one second) pulses racing across the sky. The lights looked genuine although probably somewhat enhanced by the camera. It takes a really fast lens to capture motion in the lights and my guess is they had some sophisticated photo mutiplier in the gubbins of the camera.

The colours can be intense and it looked a reasonable display with a typical curtain effect. Sometimes you can hang about for hours waiting with little but a dull green 'rainbow' somewhere to the North and then the sky will suddenly explode. In Scotland we don't get many good displays but when we do they are really spectacular with bright and vivid puples, yellows and reds besides the green.

The best photos are pretty much exculsively of slow undulating shows whereas the best one I've seen was a highly dynamic full corona almost directly overhead. And, despite all the 'rules' this happend shortly after sunset and I was only a few miles from the house.

It's solar minimum at the moment, moving slowly into sunspot cycle 24 but there have been good coronal holes producing enough solar wind to give some good lights in higher northern latitutes. Within the confines of the program, editing and time constraints I thought the whole piece was enchanting and the photography spectacular. Joana & Co. did a good job!

Alas, I'll probably have to wait a couple of years untill cycle24 really gets under way and we get some good sunspots with X flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) directed our way. Untill then I'll just have to make do with Spaceweather :lol:

Spaceweather Aurora Gallery

[Snowyowl9]

Just to add I`ve taped this by accident meant to tape something else.

Seen it again with the lights and yes it is speeded up with jerky cloud movements.

Not all of it though Joanna lumley was great and she was really moved by it.

Some faster than others.

[Candice]

I saw them last year in Churchill, Manitoba in October. It was amazing just to see them "dancing" across the sky. We only saw the green and it wasn't as bright as she saw but truly breathtaking just the same. Green is the most common, reds, purples and blues are much rarer.

[0000]

I saw them last year in Churchill, Manitoba in October. It was amazing just to see them "dancing" across the sky. We only saw the green and it wasn't as bright as she saw but truly breathtaking just the same. Green is the most common, reds, purples and blues are much rarer.

What would be different to cause the rarer colours?

[snow raven]

I saw the programme myself last night, and thought Joanna Lumley & her enthusiasm wonderful. The Northern Lights shown on the programme were both breathtaking and utterly amazing.

Seriously, if Paul decided to expand the USA trips to also seeing the Northern Lights during the year, I would honestly consider it.

[0000]

I saw the programme myself last night, and thought Joanna Lumley & her enthusiasm wonderful. The Northern Lights shown on the programme were both breathtaking and utterly amazing.

Seriously, if Paul decided to expand the USA trips to also seeing the Northern Lights during the year, I would honestly consider it.

And I would too SR :lol:

[Chris Knight]

What would be different to cause the rarer colours?

I believe it is due to different ion species in the ionosphere. The further south, the deeper the troposphere, and the higher the ionosphere, and the ion mix is different from the less elevated polar ionosphere. Oxygen and nitrogen are the commonest earth gases, but the ionosphere also gets hydrogen ions and helium from the extended solar atmosphere.

I have only seen a vivid aurora in the UK once, in March 1987, in Humberside, but the whole sky was in motion with reds, greens and blue-white streams during the display, with a circular corona apparently south of the zenith. This was despite village streetlamps and a gibbous moon, which, with the stars, shone brightly through the display. The speed of the sheets of light coming towards all horizons was like a blizzard or intense rainstorm, but silent. However, it was impossible not to imagine that it was making some sound, like white noise, as the sheets sped down. Never to be forgotten.