Plan for Sky

“Did you know,” the original caption for this image asks, “barium releases in space in 1969 caused an artificial aurora?”


[Image: Courtesy of NASA].

Perhaps cities like Montreal and Stockholm—even L.A., watching auroras torque and fold over the black waters of the Pacific—should simply hire small fleets of barium-carrying orbital vehicles to keep the skies interesting all winter long.

4 thoughts on “Plan for Sky”

  1. In Yellowknife, part of Canada's vast North, I used to lie on the ice and watch the lights until my hands and feet were numb, and drink cider until it turned to slush from the cold. The Aurora are nothing short of a miracle. To give everyone a chance to appreciate that would be divine.

  2. I remember as a kid at home in Sheffield, northern England, one night playing Sensible Soccer on the Amiga, and my Dad shouted up to us to come down because the Aurora was clearly visible (never happens in that part of the country/world). After a minute or so gazing at the sky in amazement, we realised this funny coloured Aurora was the newly installed lights at the local cricket club up the road! Oh well…

  3. we don't get auroras in Montreal… I've seen some 2hrs out of montreal on a very clear july night, but I believe it's a very rare occurence… we're a little too far down south…

    just sayin'…

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.