@Natasha_Jay@tech.lgbtHotel phone in Iceland has a special button that will wake you up if there are northern lights in the sky
@Natasha_Jay I'm so desperately looking forward to having a holiday and seeing the northern lights.
But now, before that happens, I have two important items on my list:
- getting a better DSLR camera (most likely another Nikon)
- before booking the accommodation, I will have to ask all hotels, lodges etc., If they have something like this
@NMBA@mstdn.ca@Natasha_Jay
Dim aurora show on now:)
@kim_harding@mastodon.scot@Natasha_Jay I have apps on my phone, Aurora Watch UK and AuroraNotifier that do that...
https://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/alerts/
https://www.auroranotifier.com/
Aurora Watch UK started sending txt messages around about 2001 if I remember rightly...
@Natasha_Jay
That's useful. Good idea.
if these buttons are sorted by meaning, it is even more important than "emergency"
@Natasha_Jay Another electronic thing I once saw that was so appropriate to the nation: in a hospital in the UK, the nurse call device on the bed had a button shaped like a tea cup. It was a dedicated button for asking the nurse for a cup of tea. “Tea, Earl Grey, stat!”
*paws screen and whimpers in subtropic*
The Northern Lights button icon is definitely a baby seal, and the Room Service icon is a milking machine ??
Wait … this *isn't* nanoraptor's work?
@WHY2025 @wheeze_NL@hsnl.social@Natasha_Jay the stars on the icon look like a face that's in awe of the northern lights
#FBPE @TimWardCam@c.im@Natasha_Jay We were on a ferry in Alaska where there was a wake-up system when whales were spotted in case we wanted to rush on deck in our pyjamas to look at them. But this was a manual system, it was the captain on the tannoy, and there was no way to opt out.
@vickietorious@zeroes.ca@Natasha_Jay very cool!
@Natasha_Jay eruption one needed?
@Natasha_Jay My friend @sylvia does that too, usually by sending me a photograph from her balcony with smugness proportional to the intensity.
@roddie@roddie.social@Natasha_Jay Would be nice to have that button in the north of Scotland too but normally there are pesky clouds in the way so it wouldn't be much use 
@roddie @Natasha_Jay Northern Germany is another region where you can rely on a solid layer of clouds when there is anything interesting going on in the sky 
@roddie @Natasha_Jay That's why you need one with a cloud-removal button.
@39exp@mastodon.social@Natasha_Jay there should be a button like that for a sunny day in Czech Republic
@Natasha_Jay
There's a genocide taking place in Gaza in your name. What are you doing?
@Natasha_Jay @babe Very cool but why is the icon for Northern lights a panda?!
@Natasha_Jay
me would get woken up and wonder wtf happened not realising it was the alarm for the northern lights 
@lolxd1 @Natasha_Jay well, it's a phone call, so. you'll be wondering who is calling your hotel room at such an hour
@Natasha_Jay why are other countries always thinking? I wish we could do that here
@Natasha_Jay "No mother, it's just the northern lights."
@Natasha_Jay @WittyDragon We had a few trips with main purpose Aurora Borealis. Only one time we stayed in a hotel that had an northern lights service (we were already up as we checked websites with real-time data). Other times we were in cottages away from light pollution and also checked online data to decide if+when to sleep. This was last week in Iceland (only 2 nights when periods of clear skies in one week).
D7500 + Tokina 11-16 but previous times the D90 did almost as well.
@ON4BAM @Natasha_Jay
That's so beautiful.
I feel like giving the sky a colour palette and the colour codes - right, like this 
The annoying bit is that if the person goes to see them and they go AWOL. As a tourist, some countries can be very expensive to stay several nights hoping the Aurora Borealis will grace us with her beauty 
@WittyDragon @Natasha_Jay What we learned over the years: don't stay in a town/city (too much lightpollution), if possible stay in a house/cabin with clear views in all directions (Aurora can also been seen in S direction if you're at a higher latitude, we stayed at 64°N in Iceland and 69°N in Norway). Have a car, when looking at cloudcover maps driving to a clear sky area increase your chances. We are now in a period of high solar activity (11 year cycle). Now is a good time to go 
1/2
@WittyDragon @Natasha_Jay Best time is around the equinoxes (Sept15 - March 15). This gives you longer daylight to go see/do things during the day. Our first trip to Kiruna end of December 2009 only had twilight for 4 hours every day (from 10-14). It was also cold (-20°C). March in Norway and Iceland was around freezing point (-5 to +6°C)
We've seen the best aurora after midnight 00-02 but 2nd picture was around 5 in the morning.
Rremember, it's a natural phenomenon so no guarantees.
2/2
@ON4BAM @Natasha_Jay
No, no, I can see you are guaranteeing they will happen. I will take you for it 
Thanks for the extra info, I will be prepared when I go in order to maximise the possibility of seeing the lights.
@WittyDragon @Natasha_Jay What we do is set the camera to Manual (autofocus off) speed at 5sec; aperture at 2.8 (open) ISO at 5000 and then (from inside, where it's warm) take a picture through the window every half an hour. When we start to see green in the sky we take the tripod and go out adjusting the settings according to the conditions.
The camera pics up aurora before you can see it with your eyes.
@antdude@mastodon.social@Natasha_Jay does hold work 4 no. lites? Also which hotel?
@sjaakkeuvelaar Ja ik zag het, ik volg # Iceland, zo gaaf, nooit op gelet.
Oooh, en in dit geval, vele mensen die ook IJsland leuk vinden en het here post hadden. 
@Natasha_Jay
@Natasha_Jay Our neighbours in Yukon and Alaska did that by ringing out door bell!
@Natasha_Jay I love this!
@Natasha_Jay
Maybe they bring a joint with Northern Lights Weed 
@mubase
@Natasha_Jay In Finland you were able to give your number to a WhatsApp alert group.
@Natasha_Jay I hope the the emergency is a long press or something - i would hit it all the time x3
@Natasha_Jay wake n bake. Nice service.
@Natasha_Jay made my day!!!
@Natasha_Jay
Or a delivery of weed from the nineties.
@Natasha_Jay I hope you smashed that button straight away
⏚ ᓚᘏᗢ 
@Orion77176@piaille.fr@Natasha_Jay in french we call them "aurores boréales" or probably translated "borealis auroras"
@Orion77176 @Natasha_Jay Aurora Borealis.
@Natasha_Jay brilliant