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I didn't think auroras were frequent or predictable enough to support tourism. It's been 20 years since I've seen one here in Minnesota, although I don't go lo

by mark-r 8y ago

I didn't think auroras were frequent or predictable enough to support tourism. It's been 20 years since I've seen one here in Minnesota, although I don't go looking very frequently. I've seen some good ones though.

thisacctforreal 8y ago
There is a large winter tourism market in the Yukon for aurora, Japanese tourists are particularly fond of them and are frequently up to try seeing them.
- somberi 8y ago
  Tromso in northern Norway is another big pull for Japanese during the winter months.
  - uncleberg 8y ago
    And non-Japanese. I went, it was magic :)
e12e 8y ago
> I didn't think auroras were frequent or predictable enough to support tourism. > It's been 20 years since I've seen one here in Minnesota (...) Note that there's a big difference between the "hot" area close to the poles, and further south. For example Tromsø sits at 69 degrees northern latitude, Minnesota around 49. Going for a weekend trip - you'd have to be lucky, going for a couple of weeks, you'd be virtually guaranteed. Only downside is that you can't see the aurora in spring-summer due to the polar day/midnight sun (just like you can't see the stars during the day). Surprisingly little mention of Tromsø, Norway in the article - there's been a building winter tourism trade here since the 80s,and it still seems to be growing. Unfortunately there's quite a bit of light pollution from the city - but it's not far to drive to more rural areas with better viewing.
- tapland 8y ago
  49? That's the same as Normandy, France. I've lived for 10+ years at 59 degrees (Stockholm, Sweden) and never seen one clearly, even though I'm a night owl and watch the aurora reports, and none of the people I knew had ever seen one in that area. Where I am now at 50 degrees noone would even consider looking for them, it's so far south.
  - e12e 8y ago
    Yeah, I was more than a little surprised they'd seen them in Minnesota. But I see that might not have been as clear as I intended...
    - tapland 8y ago
      No, your comment was pretty clear. I was just surprised at the original comment when you pointed out that it was 49 degrees.
  - seszett 8y ago
    The magnetic pole was over Canada until relatively recently though (20 years ago it was) so that makes it much closer to Minnesota than to Normandy. It's getting closer these days though, moving towards Russia. I also witnessed austral auroras on Kerguelen island for example, which is 49° south, because the south magnetic pole is rather close to it, but people on the Antarctic continent itself near the peninsula could not see any because although further south geographically, they were at a greater distance to the magnetic pole.
  - Xeago 8y ago
    I saw them from my house just north of Stockholm December 2016, twice. It can apparently be seen there, but it was much nicer in kiruna! :>
arethuza 8y ago
Even the northern tip of Minnesota is pretty far south - about the same latitude as Paris. I'm kind of surprised you ever see them there!
- lostapathy 8y ago
  I saw them once in west central Iowa as a kid. It’s a rare enough thing I don’t even like to talk about it because people tend not to believe it, but it definitely can happen briefly on occasion.
alkonaut 8y ago
65 deg north (Northern Sweden) is enough to see the aurora regularly. 60 deg North (Stockholm, Sweden) means you may see them very rarely. So there is a massive difference in those 5 degrees.

by mark-r 8y ago

thisacctforreal 8y ago

There is a large winter tourism market in the Yukon for aurora, Japanese tourists are particularly fond of them and are frequently up to try seeing them.

somberi 8y ago
Tromso in northern Norway is another big pull for Japanese during the winter months.
- uncleberg 8y ago
  And non-Japanese. I went, it was magic :)

e12e 8y ago

> I didn't think auroras were frequent or predictable enough to support tourism. > It's been 20 years since I've seen one here in Minnesota (...) Note that there's a big difference between the "hot" area close to the poles, and further south. For example Tromsø sits at 69 degrees northern latitude, Minnesota around 49. Going for a weekend trip - you'd have to be lucky, going for a couple of weeks, you'd be virtually guaranteed. Only downside is that you can't see the aurora in spring-summer due to the polar day/midnight sun (just like you can't see the stars during the day). Surprisingly little mention of Tromsø, Norway in the article - there's been a building winter tourism trade here since the 80s,and it still seems to be growing. Unfortunately there's quite a bit of light pollution from the city - but it's not far to drive to more rural areas with better viewing.

tapland 8y ago
49? That's the same as Normandy, France. I've lived for 10+ years at 59 degrees (Stockholm, Sweden) and never seen one clearly, even though I'm a night owl and watch the aurora reports, and none of the people I knew had ever seen one in that area. Where I am now at 50 degrees noone would even consider looking for them, it's so far south.
- e12e 8y ago
  Yeah, I was more than a little surprised they'd seen them in Minnesota. But I see that might not have been as clear as I intended...
  - tapland 8y ago
    No, your comment was pretty clear. I was just surprised at the original comment when you pointed out that it was 49 degrees.
- seszett 8y ago
  The magnetic pole was over Canada until relatively recently though (20 years ago it was) so that makes it much closer to Minnesota than to Normandy. It's getting closer these days though, moving towards Russia. I also witnessed austral auroras on Kerguelen island for example, which is 49° south, because the south magnetic pole is rather close to it, but people on the Antarctic continent itself near the peninsula could not see any because although further south geographically, they were at a greater distance to the magnetic pole.
- Xeago 8y ago
  I saw them from my house just north of Stockholm December 2016, twice. It can apparently be seen there, but it was much nicer in kiruna! :>

arethuza 8y ago

Even the northern tip of Minnesota is pretty far south - about the same latitude as Paris. I'm kind of surprised you ever see them there!

lostapathy 8y ago
I saw them once in west central Iowa as a kid. It’s a rare enough thing I don’t even like to talk about it because people tend not to believe it, but it definitely can happen briefly on occasion.

alkonaut 8y ago

65 deg north (Northern Sweden) is enough to see the aurora regularly. 60 deg North (Stockholm, Sweden) means you may see them very rarely. So there is a massive difference in those 5 degrees.