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Smooth_Detective t1_j2ie0b2 wrote

Aurorae as far south as China. I wish I could see one for myself.

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Gen_Hazard t1_j2iw1gw wrote

China can get pretty far North.

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RegentYeti t1_j2jewkj wrote

I just looked it up, the northernmost point in China that I could find is at roughly the same latitude as Edmonton, Alberta, Canada.

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HiiohoiHalojata t1_j2jnpa1 wrote

Aurora ovals are centered around geomagnetic poles and not geographic poles. The northern one is tilted heavily towards North America so the chance to see auroras at 53° N China is the same as in Indianapolis (39.7° N)

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gob0 t1_j2jqzs7 wrote

Was it so heavily tilted towards North America in 900 BC?

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HiiohoiHalojata t1_j2ju2wb wrote

That's a great point. Although the north magnetic pole has wandered quite a lot during the past 100 years, the geomagnetic pole has stayed relatively still. However, 3000 years is still a long time so it's definitely possible it was way closer to the geographic poles.

I didn't find any information about its location before 1900. The magnetic pole (not geomagnetic pole) was actually even more tilted towards North America at around 1600 than now

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Atharaphelun t1_j2js4pv wrote

Ancient China (that is, pre-Imperial China), not so much. China had yet to expand far beyond the "Central Plain" at this point in time (early Zhou dynasty, aka Western Zhou period).

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ohea t1_j2kmxwc wrote

Not in the 10th century BC it didn't. Back then, modern Beijing/Hebei was just about the northern limit of Chinese civilization.

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its8up t1_j2ij4m9 wrote

The best most of us can aspire to see in our locales is the areola borialis. I've seen their stunning beauty many times, although they do tend to be the most enjoyable during the non moody season.

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