Once more unto the lights

DID you know there are places on Earth, where, weather and darkness permitting, it’s always possible to see an aurora overhead even if solar activity is low?

Our planet has two such ‘‘auroral ovals’’, encircling the north and south magnetic poles. The northern oval is the more frequented of the two, passing over Scandanavia, Iceland, Canada and Alaska. The only land that Earth’s southern oval passes over is the Antarctic, and that’s why it has been said that more penguins than humans have witnessed the sight of an overhead aurora australis in the southern auroral zone.

My fascination with the aurora australis is well known, and as part of my ongoing mission to get more people excited about the aurora, last year I was part of a team that helped organise the first charter flight to explore the southern auroral oval.

The first ‘‘Flight to the Lights’’ took place on March 23, 2017, when a Boeing 767 aircraft left Dunedin just after 9pm, heading pretty much due south. During a flight that lasted just under eight hours, the 134 passengers (who paid between $2000 and $4000 for tickets) flew within a few kilometres of the Antarctic Circle, and got to witness the aurora australis ‘‘up close and personal’’ for nearly three hours, as our aircraft flew directly beneath the southern auroral oval.

Reaction to the 2017 flight was so positive that it was decided to organise a second flight. Unfortunately, soon after last year’s flight, Air New Zealand retired its last two Boeing 767s, and the replacements (Boeing 787 ‘‘Dreamliners’’) are too heavy to land in Dunedin.

This means this year’s flight, organised by local company Orbit Travel, will be leaving Christchurch on March 22, and to say I am excited about it would be a distinct understatement.

Thanks to the superior range and capabilities of the Dreamliner, this year’s ‘‘Flight to the Lights’’ will last more than 10 hours, and get as far south as 70 degrees, overflying part of the Antarctic continent, and spending as much as five hours in the southern auroral zone.