APOD: Colorful Aurora over Iceland (2017 Mar 06)

[APOD Robot]

Colorful Aurora over Iceland

Explanation: You don't always see a scene this beautiful when you hike to an ancient volcano -- you have to be lucky. When the astrophotographer realized that aurora were visible two-weeks ago, he made a night-time run for the top of the caldera to see if he could capture them also reflected in the central lake. When he arrived, he found that ... the northern lights were even brighter and more impressive than before! And his image of them is the featured 13-frame panoramic mosaic. The crater lake in the center is called Kerid (Icelandic: Kerið) and is about 3,000 years old. The aurora overhead shows impressive colors and banding, with the red colors occurring higher in the Earth's atmosphere than the green. The background sky is filled with icons of the northern night including Polaris, the Pleiades star cluster, and the stars that compose the handle of the Big Dipper.

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[fsldgr]

If you look closely on the enlarged shot you can see a number of meteors in the image

[JohnD]

As usual, the Wiki can lead you astray!

In Icelandic, the crossed 'd' letter is the 'eth'', đ, pronounced "th", so it's a mistake to pronounce that lake's name as "Kerid".
It's the same sound as the 'thorn', but for the end of words.

It should be "Kerith", even if you aren't Icelandic!
Nice picture!
John

[Ann]

As usual, the Wiki can lead you astray!

In Icelandic, the crossed 'd' letter is the 'eth'', đ, pronounced "th", so it's a mistake to pronounce that lake's name as "Kerid".
It's the same sound as the 'thorn', but for the end of words.

It should be "Kerith", even if you aren't Icelandic!
Nice picture!
John

Right. There is a Viking rune for the "th" sound, and that rune is θ or þ. The rest of us Scandinavians have lost that pesky "th" sound, which is why you may hear Swedes say, "What is dat ding", when they want to say, "What is that thing". (If you are really unlucky, they will even say, "Vat is dat ding?"! And okay, it wouldn't surprise me if some Norwegian dialects still hang on to their θs and þs.)

And in Iceland, the θs and þs are very much a part of their language.

Fascinatingly, I think you English-speaking guys got your θ-sound from us, or at least from the Danes, when they occupied much of England and created the region known as Danelaw in England.

And anyway, Kerith it is!

Ann

[saturno2]

Interesting image

[Skippy]

There is a Viking rune for the "th" sound, and that rune is θ...

Ann

θ = Theta - It's all Greek to me

[Chris Peterson]

As usual, the Wiki can lead you astray!

In Icelandic, the crossed 'd' letter is the 'eth'', đ, pronounced "th", so it's a mistake to pronounce that lake's name as "Kerid".
It's the same sound as the 'thorn', but for the end of words.

It should be "Kerith", even if you aren't Icelandic!

No, it shouldn't. Icelandic has two "th" sounds (as do many languages). Eth represents the sort of "th" we have at the beginning of "the", which is often given as "dh". Eth appears after vowels, and is best anglicized as "d". Thorn (þ) represents "th" as in "with" (voiceless, unlike the voiced eth). It is anglicized as "th".

Keriđ, to a native speaker of English, sounds much closer to "kerid" than to "kerith".

[CURRAHEE CHRIS]

Just curious as this picture is very timely for me. I just booked my plane tickets for a trip to Germany this DEcember. I have a one day layover iN Reykjavik. There are companies that are selling cruises to see the Northern lights. I am hesitant to do something like that as I believe I should be able to look outside the hotel or stroll around the City and see them relatively easy- am I incorrect here? I'm certain the cruise can provide better images but I have to believe they can be seen from the City proper.

Any input would be GREATLY appreciated.

Thank you

[gfinkelhoffer]

I have a site bookmarked that has live webcams around Iceland (also 2 in Northern Norway), I generally check them at least twice a day (day & night) and have never seen the 'Northern Lights'. Anybody know why? According to a site that forecasts the 'Northern Lights' I should be able to see it now.

[JohnD]

Chris,
I don't teach Modern Icelandic,and unless you do, we need an expert - and here he is!
Dr.Jackson Crawford teaches Scandanavian Languages at Berkely.
He uses as English analogues to the thorn and the eth the 'th' sounds in the words 'breath' and 'breathe', or 'worth' and 'worthy'. respectively.

I don't hear a 'd' in any of those words, but I am corrected. Jackson pronounces the second letter as "ed".
It's a bit of a saga!

See: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b00tW9LEGqE
John

[Chris Peterson]

Chris,
I don't teach Modern Icelandic,and unless you do, we need an expert - and here he is!

I don't teach it, but I do read it and speak it passably.

He uses as English analogues to the thorn and the eth the 'th' sounds in the words 'breath' and 'breathe', or 'worth' and 'worthy'. respectively.

Those are perhaps not the best examples because they vary quite widely in pronunciation among English speakers.

I don't hear a 'd' in any of those words, but I am corrected. Jackson pronounces the second letter as "ed".

I don't hear him pronounce edh as "ed" at all. I hear the word end with a vocalized "th", which is the same as the "th" at the beginning of "the" if you just cut of the "uh" part of the word. We don't use that sound in English much, but it does come pretty close to a "d" (and consider that there are English accents that turn it into "d", as in "what's da matter?")

[JohnD]

Chris, as you speak Icelandic, I bow to your knowledge and expertise!
John

[neufer]

Chris, as you speak Icelandic, I bow to your knowledge and expertise!

<<In Old Norse sources, beings described as trölls dwell in isolated mountains, rocks, or caves, and are rarely helpful to human beings. Trölls may be ugly and slow-witted, or look and behave exactly like human beings.>>

[JohnD]

Or Gorillas.