What is the difference between the northern lights and the southern lights

On Earth, the northern lights’ counterpart in the Southern Hemisphere is the southern lights — they are physically the same and differ only in their location. As such, scientists expect them to occur simultaneously during a solar storm, but sometimes the onset of one lags behind the other.

First of all let’s get straight to the point. Other than geographical location, there really is no difference between the Northern Lights and the Southern Lights. They both take place over the polar regions and are basically the same phenomenon.

So as the solar winds’ bombardment of Earth shifts from perpendicular to more parallel with the poles, it forces the auroras to change shape or location, causing the asymmetry between the northern and southern lights.

NOAA Photo Library. Polar lights (aurora polaris) are a natural phenomenon found in both the northern and southern hemispheres that can be truly awe inspiring.

Auroras tend to be most visible during the autumn and vernal equinoxes. … The equivalent of the aurora borealis in the Southern Hemisphere, aurora australis are most commonly found in southern Australia, Tasmania, New Zealand and Antarctica, per Smithsonian Magazine.

Photographers across Australia will tell you that Aurora Australis is visible from many places, but your best chance of witnessing this phenomenon is to be as far south as possible – which means Tasmania. All you need for a sighting is a broad horizon (away from artificial light), a decent camera and good timing.

Best Places to See Northern Lights

This auroral zone covers Central and northern Alaska and Canada, Greenland, northern Scandinavia and Russia in the Northern Hemisphere, and Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere. In the south, auroras can sometimes be seen from southern Australia, New Zealand, and Chile.

What is clear is that the aurora does, on rare occasions, make sounds audible to the human ear. The eerie reports of crackling, whizzing and buzzing noises accompanying the lights describe an objective audible experience – not something illusory or imagined.

Fairly simple, really. That being said, the reason the southern lights are not as popular is due to their extremely remote location, and in turn, are much harder to access for travellers who make the journey thousands of miles away to witness this fascinating occurrence in real life.

The land within the Arctic Circle is divided among eight countries: Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, the United States (Alaska), Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut), Denmark (Greenland), and Iceland (where it passes through the small offshore island of Grímsey).

Before we get started, let’s go over a simple fact: There are no New Zealand northern lights, although similar beautiful events only the southern lights can be experienced in New Zealand.

The word borealis is Latin for boreal, which simply means “northern.” The aurora borealis is not the only aurora on Earth. The aurora in the Southern Hemisphere is called aurora australis or the southern lights.

The North Pole is beyond the Exclusive Economic Zone of any country. This makes the surface and the water column International Waters. This should allow anyone to travel to the pole by sea or air. The routes to the North Pole will require innocent passage through the territory of some sovereign nation.

There’s no land at the North Pole

Instead it’s all ice that’s floating on top of the Arctic Ocean. Over the past four decades, scientists have seen a steep decline in both the amount and thickness of Arctic sea ice during the summer and winter months.

In the last five years, only one unsupported, unassisted expedition has completed the journey to the North Pole, compared to seven from 2005 to 2010. “They’re done,” says Richard Weber, an Arctic pioneer from Canada who has skied to the North Pole six times, more than anyone in history.

They will not fly over the South Pole, but around Antarctica taking advantage of the strong winds which circle that continent in an easterly direction.

North Pole FAA Flight Requirements

Adding to the problems are the fact that being so near the North Pole can interfere with navigation systems that rely on magnetism. Planes flying in the North Pole, thus, need to have equipment that can compensate for this as best as possible.

Antarctica is the only continent on Earth without a native human population. … Since no country owns Antarctica, no visa is required to travel there.