Alaska Cruise

Robert MacKay (rob@No-Spam)
Sat, 15 Jul 1999 19:22:59 -0700

> Robert MacKay wrote:
> > ...I have seen them move as if someone was playing music...
>
> So, the fast ones change in seconds? How much do they change? What
> changes? Color? Shape? Extent? Brightness?
>
> Can you describe what it looks like when they change quickly?
>
>

The best way to describe it (when observed under ideal conditions like
tonight from where I lived at 53*N) would be to take a small dark pool of
water and shine a light on it, then cause gentle ripples in the pool and
watch the reflection of the light dance around. Maybe not quite that fast,
but pretty close. This is very rare though but this weekend you would see
that for sure. The colors depend on lots of factors. I don't really know
them all but I have seen them shimmer from blue to silver to greenish blue..
sometimes red..

It's really a sight to behold... How long does the solar maximum last?
Maybe I'll go visit my Mom. :)

Rob. .


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