Aurora observations

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terrestrial lightning and aurora

attiyah zahdeh — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 06:49:22 GMT

Is there a relation between the terrestrial lightning in the auroral zone and the aurora?

Aurora Question

Digital06 — Sat, 08 Sep 2007 01:50:23 GMT

I live in SE ontario, is the aurora ever visible here at any time of the year?

Aurora from the air

ben teomim — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 19:19:27 GMT

On a transatlantic flight, February 25, 2009, about an hour or so after sunset, my flight from LA to Tel Aviv was flying over Saskatchewan, towards the northern end of Hudson's Bay. I had my laptop on the flight to orient me to look at the stars from the far northern latitudes (I live at about 34 degrees north) and when I looked out the window, I saw what I first thought was a wispy cloud way ahead to the north of the plane. As I looked, and realized that we were over 34,000 ft up, it suddenly hit me that I was seeing the aurora. As I watched, I could see us approaching the band, which took on a faint gray-green hue and began to look like a curtain. I sort of made a fool of myself by draping my blanket over my head to improve the visibility. I also woke up my wife very excitedly and also the flight attendants and crew, who had never seen the phenomenon. As we continued, the curtain showed some localized brightening, and it appeared to change very slowly, but it was impossible to actually see motion. As we went on, a second and then a third band became visible. The band zig-zagged towards the horizon. And then, incredibly, we passed under the bands, one at a time and could look up at them. They looked brighter that way. After about 30-45 minutes we left them behind as we continued northeastward. They began to look like rings, and I could imagine what it would be like to have rings around the earth like Saturn. The flight attendants kept telling their colleagues and everyone was really entranced with the sight. Afterwards, I was thinking of the other pictures of the aurora I've seen, including the videos, but none of them give the feeling of being able to approach and pass under the auroral bands. I also wondered whether there was any radiation (particles or other) to objects under the aurora band. After all, this represents the ionization caused by the solar wind directed downwards by the earth's magnetic field. Anyone have a comparable experience? Anyone know the answer to my question about radiation exposure?

Our forum policies, including no advertising (updated 12/18/2008)

Karri Ferron — Thu, 18 Dec 2008 15:49:50 GMT

Now, to the rules:

Please keep discussions on topic (that is, astronomy-related).

For further guidelines, please visit Frequently Asked Questions or our Web Site Usage Policy.

Aurora Borealis at Christmas?

vegeboxme — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 16:56:29 GMT

I'm just popping into this forum to pick your collective brain power about the Northern Lights. Its a lifetime dream to see them and we're considering a trip to Lapland for Christmas. Santa ticks the kid's boxes, and AB ticks ours.

My question is, would they be visable at Christmas time in Rovaniemi, Finland? I appreaciate variables such as cloud cover, need to get away from lights etc, how do I find out if beyond those variables there is a high chance of seeing them while we're there

Many thanks

Aurora sitings in PA?

LumpyGravy — Sat, 04 Oct 2008 18:22:42 GMT

I'm new to lloking for certain nightime objects. Is there ever a chance to view an aurora in south eastern PA under the righ conditions? What time of year would be most likely?

aurora in the philippines

juvenilealchemist — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:13:35 GMT

I'm from the Philippines and I'm wondering if auroras can be seen here.... is there a possibility of an aurora sighting here?... I really wish I could see one/... they're amazing ...

Auroras are better to be viewed at the North and South poles

Dark Neptune — Sun, 01 Apr 2007 15:18:04 GMT

Auroras are better to be viewed at the North and South poles when I saw photos through the Internet and newspaper compared to those in parks and cities.Can someone help me here?How do auroras form?Astronomers say that Jupiter also has auroras....wonder why....I not too good in auroras,only astronomy hehe..

Aurora help in Michigan U.P.

Starmonkey — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 14:32:14 GMT

Hi all,

I have a cabin up in the U.P. of michigan we go there once a year. Every night we stay awake trying to find the auroras. The best we've got is a small invisable tendril of aurora. Are they best viewed with a telescope, eyes, or binoculars? Thanks for helping. Alex

aurora sighting in Oregon?

sitka — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 20:35:31 GMT

I live in Gresham, Oregon and one evening in mid December, I was looking toward the southeastern sky (to the west of Mt. Hood) at about 10:20 p.m. when the sky turned from darkness to a blue-green color, shimmering across the horizon. It lasted for a few seconds and disappeared. A few minutes later, now with my spouse also watching, the color returned again, then turned a rosy-orange shade, then turned back to the blue-green before disappearing again. It seemed unlikely to see the Aurora Borealis this far south and it that sky, but I can't imagine what else it was. Did anyone else observe the phenomenon?

Faint aurora Saturday night

jkade — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 18:51:53 GMT

My wife and I were in a dark sky area in the northern lower peninsula of Michigan this weekend. We saw faint fingers of light off to the north around 11:30 PM. They were bright enough to be unmistakable, but there was very little color. As the night wore on, the "fingers" got longer and more distinct. We thought they might be auroral - from their position they couldn't be any other optical effects we were familiar with.

Checking spaceweather, though, there was a little bit of solar wind that evening, causing auroras in the northern and southern hemispheres. An observer in Wisconsin got it on film:

http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2007/14jul07/Wilder1.jpg

http://www.spaceweather.com/aurora/images2007/14jul07/Wilder4.jpg

Aurora images from 2006

chippym22 — Sat, 19 May 2007 16:17:26 GMT

This is going back a bit but I just remembered how much I enjoyed the flight I went on last year to see the Northern Lights
so I thought I would add a page on my website. We were fortunate to see both the aurora and also the incredible sight of the night sky when there are absolutely no lights around and from a height of 38,000 feet or whatever it is.

I have posted up some thumbnails of what we saw http://www.space-and-telescope.com/NorthernLights.aspx and although they do show the aurora to good effect they just can't do justice to what we saw once our eyes were fully acclimatised to the dark. We also had a talk before hand from Chris Lintott of BBC Sky at Night fame and also Paul Money http://www.astspace.demon.co.uk/ who also came up on the flight and gave us lots of info. Thanks to Paul for allowing me to add the thumbnails of his photos to my site and a link to his. I would really recommend that any one who has the chance should go on a similar trip.

Image credit Paul Money

Auroras in New Jersey

Daniel8802 — Sat, 11 Nov 2006 21:05:05 GMT

I've seen them happen once since I was born - 18 years. I lived in Philadelphia and never tried to observe there, but saw them once in my darker skies in New Jersey. How often do they happen in this area? Right now I'm about 40min from Philadlephia.

Aurora Borealis in Northern New Hampshire, USA

mtmannh — Tue, 27 Feb 2007 22:50:23 GMT

Aurora, taken in northern New Hampshire, 50mm lens, 400asa Fuji film, Pentax K1000

Clear Skies,

Michael

Mount Washington Valley Astronomy

Photos of Northern Lights trip

Mandevu — Mon, 25 Apr 2005 01:59:19 GMT

In early March, I joined a group, which included Astronomy Magazine asociate editor Francis Reddy, on a tour to Alaska, to see the Northern Lights. What a great trip, and made much better by Francis. We stayed in Fairbanks, and also in Chena Hot Springs. The Springs are out of this world (no pun intended). We were fortunate to have excellent weather, and the aurora viewing was great. I have made a small photo page if you are interested.

http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/bwanatom99/album?.dir=/2887
Thanks , Man

Aurora watching

Jeremy McGovern — Thu, 15 Sep 2005 21:36:31 GMT

Have you looked for aurorae because of the recent solar activity? If so, were you able to view the northern lights?

When can I see Auroras in Whistler, BC?

Betelgeuse — Tue, 06 Feb 2007 17:35:22 GMT

I'm heading to Whistler for a bit of skiing in mid March. I was wondering if I had a chance of seeing an Aurora then?

Aurora Videos on YouTube

DaveMitsky — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 10:21:14 GMT

There are some striking videos of auroral activity on the recent big news item website YouTube.

Here's one of them that's really worth a look.

Dave Mitsky

Aurora Watch - December 8-10

DaveMitsky — Fri, 08 Dec 2006 17:55:27 GMT

An aurora watch has been issued for mid-latitudes for the next 48 hours.

http://www.spacew.com/www/midlatwchrpt.html

Dave Mitsky

Strong Auroras!

Daniel8802 — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 16:36:58 GMT

Is it because of the new 930 sunspot and the activity that has been going on with the sun for a few days now? They must be intense up in canadia! Take a look at the map :). Some areas are in red!!

http://www.sec.noaa.gov/pmap/pmapN.html

A few aurora pics from NW Ontario

grendel64 — Thu, 05 Oct 2006 23:09:55 GMT

Hi, I have been reading through the forums and thought I'd post a link to a few of my aurora pics taken recently. The last aurora was a week or so ago...I keep watching for the next show but nothing yet. Anyway, you can see a few of my attempts to photograph them here:
http://www.fotothing.com/MNLawrence/

Mike Lawrence
Sioux Lookout, Ontario

chances of seeing an aurora

P-Frizzle — Mon, 13 Feb 2006 22:56:40 GMT

hi this summer i am going on a canoe trip for a week in northern minisota

what are my chances of seeing an aurora

thank you

clear skies

I'm back

stormchaser236 — Mon, 02 Jan 2006 05:53:08 GMT

I'm back after a long summer and fall....I was able to get many pictures of the Auroras through out the summer and fall...You can see some of them on my site....However the site has gone some big changes,and it's not fully done yet...The link is still the same...I have been locked under clouds for what seems like weeks now...I wish it would break so I could get some deep space pictures...

www.storm-chaser236.com

Auroral observation 2005-Sep-11 in Northern IL

adegutis — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 16:04:15 GMT

After getting home from a concert just after midnight local time (05:30 UT), I get out to the scope to see how the skies were in Woodstock, IL (42N 88W). The seeing wasn't the greatest (3/5) and I think the Moon was still setting but I couldn't see it through the perimeter trees. I pointed the telescope at Mars but the atmoshpheric turblance was high. I observed the Double Cluster, Pleiades and as Mars rose higher in the sky, went back to it.

Aware that there was the possibility of an auroral display in the northern states, I had the camera out and kept looking northward only the skyglow near the horizon was visible. While observing Mars the second time at 01:35 am local time (06:35 UT), I looked up at Cassiopeia and saw a big white cloud covering it. Realizing this was an auroral stream/ray I pointed the camera at it and snapped a 30 second exposure. At this point, it was already fading so the camera only caught a part of it before it faded.

http://www.skyinsight.net/forum/modules/gallery/aurora20050911/Aurora_2005_Sep_11_009

I kept watching and snapping pictures. With my mostly dark adapted eyes, I was able to see faint rays that moved from the North thru and around Cassiopeia but they were so faint and brief that the camera didn't pick them up.

I alternated between obsering Mars and watching for more auroral display for the next 90 minutes. No more northern lights were seen.

A mid-latitide auroral alert has been issued and the chances for more activity from sunspot 808 is very stong. I'll be outside watching most nights this week.

Al Degutis
http://www.skyinsight.net