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Comment by Teever | Hacker News Reader

I've always assumed that the Northern Lights were quite a common site in Tallinn?

I just looked it up and the latitude of the place I'm from in Canada is about in the middle between Tallinn and London. We usually see the Northern Lights here several times year, With exceptionally prominent displays occurring at least at least once every 2-3 years.

I did not expect how often Americans would ask me about the Northern Lights when I visited there for a few months many years ago. They were often so fascinated and slightly envious/baffled by how blasé I felt about something so incredible because it was so common to me.

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The magnetic pole is in Canada, so you don't need to be anywhere near as for north.

Ah, that makes sense, I knew there was deviation between the magnetic pole and north pole, but I did not think it was that large.

Thanks.

It's not just here, we created it, out of the sheer, unmitigated, unrelented politeness we exude.

Also sorry for being too polite.

I'm also Canadian, the ones I know are not polite, maybe passive aggressive that gets confused with polite by other cultures. I've generally found Americans more polite.

I think Anglo Canadians like to think they are polite, but I have no idea where that comes from. They're certainly not polite with French speakers in any case.

What a bizarre thing to say! To most from French cultures, not speaking french is "rude". French Quebeckers will often even pretend to not know english.

Yet here we have someone claiming anglos are "rude" to french speakers? In what way?

Because, I presume, they do not speak french?

> Yet here we have someone claiming anglos are "rude" to french speakers? In what way?

The "Speak white" in parliament is something that is hard to forget even if it was long ago now. But yes, berating French speakers for speaking French in a French-speaking province is actually rude.

In none of the "French cultures" I know, is not speaking French rude. What is rude is assuming everyone speaks your own language everywhere.

I'm not here to write an essay on cohabitation between languages in multilingual countries (which I could) though, but I would like you to read your own comment again and ask yourself whether it exudes politeness at all.

And maybe, whether your aggressive-defensive knee-jerk reaction to a mention of French speakers might be the reason Quebecers tend to consider Anglos the opposite of polite.

I think your comment highlights the issue's source, far more than your assertions about mine.

The magnetic north pole is wandering pretty fast. Currently magnetic north pole is at coordinates 86.146, 146.826 [1] - right in the arctic ocean. It is not in Canada for quite some years.

[1] https://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/geomag/GeomagneticPoles.shtml

The geomagnetic north pole is the relevant one. It is located in northern Canada, around 80.7, -72.7, and moves much slower.

Your link mentions this, too:

> Based on the WMM2020 coefficients for 2020.0 the geomagnetic north pole is at 72.68°W longitude and 80.65°N latitude, […] Although geomagnetic pole positions cannot be observed, they are arguably of greater significance than the dip poles because the auroral ovals (approximate 5° latitude bands where the spectacular aurora is likely visible) are closely centered on the geomagnetic poles.

Oh, yes indeed. Thanks for pointing out my confusion and the difference between those two!

the latitude of the place I'm from in Canada is about in the middle between Tallinn and London.

That'd place you at about the north of England, maybe around Newcastle. I'd expect with clear skies and a dark environment to the north you'd have seen last night's display from that far south.

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