Photos courtesy of Robert Kasuboski
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| click images for full-size Photos courtesy of Robert Kasuboski |
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By Julie St. Louis
Turnagain Times Correspondent
Girdwood residents and visitors had a front row seat this past week to what is often referred to as nature’s most beautiful light show. More often than not, on most clear dark winter nights, Alaska’s Golden Heart City—Fairbanks—is recommended as the place to view the Aurora Borealis. However, recent sightings here would have to rival our friends in the Interior for best backdrop with the Chugach Mountains and Cook Inlet completing the view.
Guests staying at The Hotel Alyeska were treated to complimentary aurora wake-up calls by front desk staff, and residents around Girdwood took time to sit on their decks or walk out from their houses to look up at the curtain of light dancing across the sky.
Alyeska front desk clerk, Jennifer Wozencraft reported that several guests had requested the aurora alert over the three days of sightings. Wozencraft also commented that she had witnessed the light show on March 27 along with other patrons at the Sitzmark.
“Thursday night was the most defined I have seen them so far,” she said. “Someone at the Sitzmark pointed to the sky saying, ‘look the northern lights are out’ and a bunch of us went outside to watch the 15 minute display. This is the fourth time this winter that I’ve seen them, and the first time over Girdwood.”
The aurora form when solar particles collide with Earth’s upper atmosphere. Larger solar storms cause a greater influx of particles, which allows the light to reach lower latitudes and become visible to more parts of Alaska. The Scientific and Latin name for this phenomenon, Aurora Borealis, was first used by the Italian scientist Galileo Galilei in 1619 and translates into the red dawn of the north. These sometimes very colorful displays are also known as the Northern Lights, or depending on which far end of the earth you inhabit, Aurora Australis for Southern Lights.
The Aurora Borealis can appear as flowing curtains of varying colors from the most common greenish-yellow to more rare red and purple hues. The light is continuously moving and changing shape because of the constant and varied interactions between the solar wind and the earth’s magnetic field.
These waving bands of light have driven many myths through the years. Native Alaskans believed that the souls of departed ancestors could be seen in the shimmering colored bands of the northern lights, while early prospectors believed that the heavenly display was a reflection of the ultimate gold strike or “the Mother Lode”. The Inuit along the Bering Sea explain it as a kickball game in heaven between children and adults, with the kickball made from the skull of a walrus. And the Tlingit describe heroic spirits of their dead warriors as they blaze through the sky. The light are torches held in the hands of the spirits who are guiding the souls of the departed over the abyss at the edge of the world where a land of plenty and free of pain exists. .
Alaska is also a frequent destination for Japanese tourist couples, flocking mostly to Fairbanks each year, with the belief that the aurora will bring happiness and male children.
“I’ve waited on members of several Japanese tour groups who regularly stay and dine at Alyeska Resort on quick stopovers prior to heading north for the real show,” said Rachel Drinkard, a waitress at The Pond restaurant at Alyeska Resort.
To obtain a better understanding of the Northern Lights, and get an idea of when and where to view the best light shows, residents can consult information offered by the Geophysical Institute at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. This institute regularly studies and predicts the range and activity of the aurora.
According to Dr. Charles Deehr, professor emeritus in physics at the university “Auroral prediction is part of what is called space weather prediction.” Space weather, or geomagnetic storms containing electrically charged particles from the sun enter the earth’s atmosphere and collide creating the bright auroral lights over the north and south poles.
“The single most reported effect on human consciousness is that of the fascination and euphoria associated with a chance encounter with this overwhelming, but non-threatening phenomenon.” Deehr said.
Long-time Girdwood resident Diana Livingston would agree. “I always look out my window before going to bed to see what I can see,” she said. “I’ve seen a few sightings this winter, and hope to see more.”
According to the aurora predictors, there’s a good chance that Livingston and others will get to do just that. To see the northern lights over Girdwood, Dr. Deehr says, “the best time of year is the new moon in March. At this time, the skies are clear, and the maximum in yearly auroral frequency is at the spring equinox.”
Dr. Deehr and his colleagues at UAF provide regular predictions on when, where and how active the aurora will be. For upcoming sightings the Geophysical Institute predicts that March 26-April 2, April 5-15, April 22-29, and May 2-12 will be particularly active periods where the lights may be seen as far south as Anchorage and Juneau. For more viewing information go to http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/.