
THE NORTHERN LIGHTS, also known as the aurora borealis, are often thought to be restricted (in their full splendour at least) to the so-called auroral zone, which includes Scandinavia and the coast of Siberia, although the phenomenon has been witnessed in the United States, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica, as far south as 40°. In the present video, quite magnificent auroral manifestations are recorded by Virraj Sorhvi even further south than that, at the geographic latitude of 31°, from India's Lesser Himalayas — the elevation of the vantage point above sea level (at 2,062 metres or 6,766 feet, i.e. 23.3% of the height of Mount Everest) being probably a crucial factor in facilitating the phenomenon's visibility from such a low latitude. Since Virraj (and the camera) are however facing southwards, the question arises as to whether what is seen here is not perchance some extraordinary view, however improbable, of the aurora australis instead of borealis, i.e. the Southern Lights? At any rate, the particular characteristics of the auroral displays captured here, which seem to be relatively well structured, include an ochreous tint to the bottom band of colour, and a fan-tailed shape of the upper portion of the most spectacular among the natural luminosities.
There is one further difficulty here. The auroral index for the date of 3 August 2008, as determined by the Geophysical Institute of the University of Alaska, Fairbanks, was 1 on the scale of 0 to 9 (with 0 being the lowest degree of auroral activity, and 4 — or "moderate" activity — being the highest recorded for any day in the month of August 2008). So, if the Northern Lights were clinically dead on 3 August 2008 (and on the two days immediately preceding and following), what exactly are we seeing here?
In formulating the answer to this question it should be borne in mind that any hypothesis linking the optical phenomena in the present video with the activities of thunderstorm systems will be weakened by the archival data of the India Meteorological Department, a governmental agency, which reports "all quiet" over Delhi, a locality some 270 km (170 miles) due south as the crow flies from the video's vantage point, on the date in question (and on the two days immediately preceding and following) — as evidenced on their website at http://www.imd.gov.in/section/nhac/dynamic/wxmonth.htm — although the presence of an active thunderstorm system closer home, say, within the range of 50 or 100 km, has not yet been completely ruled out (however improbable such a system would be in the area in question without having first affected the region of Delhi on the same or on the PRECEDING day, given the general patterns of India's south-western monsoon).
Anyhow, time well spent on sleepless nights at a sanatorium, would you say?
♦ Virraj has been hospitalized continuously since 4 July 2005; he has been convalescing (with active osteomyelitis or bone infection) at the Simla Sanitarium and Hospital since 28 May 2008. For the latest info, visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/virraj
♦ video & still photography location: Simla Sanitarium and Hospital, Carton House, Chaura Maidan, Shimla, Himāchal Pradesh, India (lat=31.103183 lon=77.156029)
♦ video date: Sunday, 3 August 2008 (23:13:00-23:25:00 IST | 17:43:00-17:55:00 GMT) — 1127th day of Virraj's hospitalization overall (68th day at Simla Sanitarium)
♦ still photography date (last three images): Thursday, 31 July 2008 (19:51:00-19:53:00 IST | 14:21:00-14:23:00 GMT) — 1124th day of Virraj's hospitalization overall (65th day at Simla Sanitarium)
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