Northern Lights

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A storm from the broiling sun turned the chilly northernmost skies of Earth into an ever-changing and awe-provoking art show of northern lights on Tuesday. Even experienced stargazers were stunned by the intensity of the aurora borealis that swept across the night sky in northern Scandinavia after the biggest solar flare in six years. ‘‘It has been absolutely incredible," British astronomer John Mason cried from the deck of the MS Midnatsol, a cruise ship plying the fjord-fringed coast of northern Norway.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — A storm from the broiling sun turned the chilly northernmost skies of Earth into an ever-changing and awe-provoking art show of northern lights on Tuesday. Even experienced stargazers were stunned by the intensity of the aurora borealis that swept across the night sky in northern Scandinavia after the biggest solar flare in six years. ‘‘It has been absolutely incredible," British astronomer John Mason cried from the deck of the MS Midnatsol, a cruise ship plying the fjord-fringed coast of northern Norway.

A new documentary explores the scientific side of the famed 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson. The Emily Dickinson Museum says the one-hour film “Seeing New Englandly’’ will get its first screening tomorrow night at Amherst Cinema. The documentary features a number of poems and passages that reflect Dickinson’s fascination with the natural world, including subjects such as the northern lights, volcanic eruptions, and unusual New England weather. Dickinson was born in Amherst and lived a mostly reclusive life there.

A new documentary explores the scientific side of the famed 19th-century poet Emily Dickinson. The Emily Dickinson Museum says the one-hour film “Seeing New Englandly’’ will get its first screening tomorrow night at Amherst Cinema. The documentary features a number of poems and passages that reflect Dickinson’s fascination with the natural world, including subjects such as the northern lights, volcanic eruptions, and unusual New England weather. Dickinson was born in Amherst and lived a mostly reclusive life there.

WHO: Kathleen Doyle, 38, of Jamaica Plain WHERE: Reykjavík, Iceland WHEN: One week in February WHY: "We hadn't had much snow in Boston , and last year at that time I was in Brazil, so I thought I'd go somewhere completely different," she said. HOST OF VIRTUES: "I stayed in town at the Salvation Army Guesthouse ( guesthouse.is ). It was practically empty and so clean. It was much nicer than I thought it would be, and the people were really helpful," Doyle said.

SASKATOON — Wedged between Alberta and Manitoba, Saskatchewan is a massive prairie province. It is twice the size of Germany yet it has only 1 million inhabitants. It includes a diverse range of terrain and ecosystems, from Great Plains and boreal forest to isolated lakes and rocky Precambrian Shield. The best time to travel to the Prairies’ middle child is in its warmest months, May to September. D. Grant Black, author of “Saskatchewan Book of Musts: 101 Places Every Saskatchewanian Must See,’’ recommends 10 destinations.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Having once lived in Fairbanks, my appreciation for Alaska's second-largest city is grounded in details many visitors never experience: vibrant potluck dinners in wood-heated cabins, the colossal vegetables produced during the short but light-filled growing season, and the dazzling displays of the aurora borealis on cold, dark nights. Most tourists come here in summer. And while you cannot fully know Fairbanks until you have experienced ice-encrusted eyelashes, it is now possible to get a greater sense of place through a new sound and light installation at the...

A solar storm shook the Earth's magnetic field early Friday, but scientists said they had no reports of any problems with electrical systems. After reports Thursday of the storm fizzling out, a surge of activity prompted space weather forecasters to issue alerts about changes in the magnetic field. "We really haven't had any reports from power system operators yet," Rob Steenburgh, a space weather forecaster at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colo., said early Friday.

OSLO — Five people were killed and one person was dug out alive after Swiss and French skiers were buried by an avalanche Monday on Norway's Arctic fringe. Rescuers located the victims through beacons from their radio transceivers, but only the first person they found survived, a Swiss man who was taken to a local hospital in stable condition. A 3,000-foot wall of snow came crashing down on the skiers on Sorbmegaisa mountain, 40 miles east of the northern city of Tromsoe, police spokesman Morten Pettersen said.

In Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, they're looking for a few good books. Actually they're looking for a good book store . In an ever-tougher business environment for independent booksellers, the town of St. Johnsbury, population 7,571 as of 2000, is offering startup money and a break on rent to a qualified person willing to open a bookstore downtown. The word is out in the book trade, and St. Johnsbury officials say calls are coming in. "I'm here to tell the world that we want them," said Barbara Morrow, executive director of St. Johnsbury Works, an agency dedicated to sustaining...

SASKATOON — Wedged between Alberta and Manitoba, Saskatchewan is a massive prairie province. It is twice the size of Germany yet it has only 1 million inhabitants. It includes a diverse range of terrain and ecosystems, from Great Plains and boreal forest to isolated lakes and rocky Precambrian Shield. The best time to travel to the Prairies’ middle child is in its warmest months, May to September. D. Grant Black, author of “Saskatchewan Book of Musts: 101 Places Every Saskatchewanian Must See,’’ recommends 10 destinations.

WHO: Kathleen Doyle, 38, of Jamaica Plain WHERE: Reykjavík, Iceland WHEN: One week in February WHY: "We hadn't had much snow in Boston , and last year at that time I was in Brazil, so I thought I'd go somewhere completely different," she said. HOST OF VIRTUES: "I stayed in town at the Salvation Army Guesthouse ( guesthouse.is ). It was practically empty and so clean. It was much nicer than I thought it would be, and the people were really helpful," Doyle said.

FAIRBANKS, Alaska -- Having once lived in Fairbanks, my appreciation for Alaska's second-largest city is grounded in details many visitors never experience: vibrant potluck dinners in wood-heated cabins, the colossal vegetables produced during the short but light-filled growing season, and the dazzling displays of the aurora borealis on cold, dark nights. Most tourists come here in summer. And while you cannot fully know Fairbanks until you have experienced ice-encrusted eyelashes, it is now possible to get a greater sense of place through a new sound and light...

Our high-tech world seems to have weathered a solar storm that was still showing signs of life late Thursday. While some experts think the threat from the solar storm passed by earlier in the day, space weather forecasters said it's still too early to relax because the storm's effects could continue through Friday morning. Around midnight EST Thursday, the storm reached what forecasters called a "moderate level. " "We've seen a bit of an increase in mag (magnetic field)

Friends often accuse me of being too nostalgic. By afternoon, they say, I have become misty-eyed over what I ate for breakfast. That's not completely true, I tell them. I am sure there have been a few bowls of cereal that have gone unremembered or unremarked upon. But my protests are half-hearted, because I know my friends are right. Case in point: On a recent trip to Iceland, I became weepy at the sight of three sheep grazing in a grassy field under the midnight sun. This was my first trip to Iceland in several years.