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General Weather/Earth Sciences Topics => Earth Sciences => Topic started by: chief-david on August 04, 2010, 02:47:34 PM

Title: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: chief-david on August 04, 2010, 02:47:34 PM
If so, please post your pictures.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: KeithBC on August 04, 2010, 03:55:16 PM
Nope.  I looked when I got up in the night, but there was nothing to see except stars.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: BigOkie on August 04, 2010, 05:15:25 PM
Still to ligth here for viewing Auroral Displays. It still be couple of weeks till we can start seeing them. September is really best as still warm enough to sit outside and watch them. Had lunar eclipes couple years ago here  and we watched it and aurora at the same time. Moon was low on southern Horizon and to the north  to the zenith auroral curtains where beenind displayed. As moon got darker the curtains moved to the south.
 If we get some good displays here before we head back to Saxmanand I get good pixs of them  I'll post them.

John

Most of us were talking about aurorae at lower latitudes due to the CME on Aug 1.  You guys in AK get them fairly often.  Us in the Lower 48 don't.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: Wx4U on August 05, 2010, 04:39:43 PM
Its a looooong way from Maine to OK. Are they ever seen that for South?
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: mackbig on August 05, 2010, 06:10:44 PM
John,
I dont think BigOkie was trying or meant to be contentious.  Probably more jealous of the wicked northern lights you get up there.

Andrew

 Hate to differ with you grew up in Maine and I use to watch auroral there in winter almost every nigth when the sun cycle was up.  But ok I wont share my photo's  then. IT seem that the attitudde of thgis board is it is an Lower 48 board so those of us from out side the Conus relly should not apply. Guess your one of those who is not interested what goes on outside of your area.

 Ken if you read this Please removed me from the board and all my postings please.

John
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: mackbig on August 05, 2010, 06:15:44 PM
I was "up north" (just north of 45°20′N ) till Tuesday, but we came back in the afternoon.  I was out late Friday night snapping pic's, but no Aurora for me.  Saturday, Sunday and Monday were a bit cloudy at night.    Was kind of hoping that my daughter could see it.  Next year we are going for a full week, so perhaps more opportunity.  They get some pretty good aurora shows with almost no light polution as there are no nearby cities.   Its amazing how many stars you can see, its like 3d out there,  the moon started rising about 10:30 and its natural pollution dimmed them, but just a bit.

Andrew
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: Wx4U on August 05, 2010, 10:44:34 PM
Good photos here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/yahooeditorspicks/galleries/72157624653325820/
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: BigOkie on August 05, 2010, 11:03:11 PM
A bit childish, don't you think?  My point is that the majority of us in the US live in the lower 48 and those that do live south of the 40th parallel. If you choose to leave this board then so be it, but let's not leave with the inference that it was my fault.

Sheesh.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: BigOkie on August 05, 2010, 11:15:45 PM
Its a looooong way from Maine to OK. Are they ever seen that for South?

I've never seen one this far south.  Maine varies from 42N to 47N.  OK comes in at in between 33 and 37N.  That's a pretty big distance, and Maine isn't much farther south than the upper Midwestern border states to Canada, like ND, MT, MN, MI, etc, etc.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: Mark / Ohio on August 06, 2010, 12:29:00 AM
I only recall one or two times here (in my 40 some odd years of memory) that they were bright enough to see over the lights of the surrounding farms and cities.  We always seem to be socked in with clouds on the days with the best chances.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: Wx4U on August 06, 2010, 08:56:07 AM
Some 20 to 30 years or so ago, my son saw them while living in Mullin, NE.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: Bob Jones on August 06, 2010, 05:00:22 PM
When you are talking 'How Far South' don't forget us 'Down Under' - we have had our own aurora's this week - after all it is a GLOBAL phenomenon- some links are

http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/OverviewS.html (http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/pmap/OverviewS.html) - areas where it should be

http://www.stuff.co.nz/the-press/news/christchurch/3568270/The-power-of-nature-what-a-gas

(Scroll down to the bottom of the second one  - there are 2 embedded links !!)

Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: Cienega32 on August 08, 2010, 12:57:05 AM
With all the "sensationalism" about this event, I really thought there would be a bunch of photos from areas that usually go without them!

I didn't expect to see anything here in southern NM but I looked anyway!  :lol:

I've only seen one in my lifetime - in the early/mid 60s on Long Island NY (40.719471,-73.480339). It was the most fantastic (natural) thing I've ever seen in the sky.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: WeatherHost on August 08, 2010, 01:14:00 AM
We had an event a few years back that was visible around 37° North.  Not sure it was the Aurora, but local 911 centers got a lot of calls about a red glow low in the sky that looked like a barn fire off in the distance.  That was probably in 2003 or so.

Nothing from this latest event but the Sun is waking up from a long slumber and the frequency and intensity of flares and CMEs is expected to increase over the next few years.

Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: Mark / Ohio on August 08, 2010, 02:05:32 PM
...Not sure it was the Aurora, but local 911 centers got a lot of calls about a red glow low in the sky that looked like a barn fire off in the distance.  ....

That was my first thought when I saw them was a big fire.  Then I noticed some shades of green to almost a blue.  Kind of eerie when your not used to seeing them.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: BigOkie on August 08, 2010, 06:55:15 PM
A bit childish, don't you think?  My point is that the majority of us in the US live in the lower 48 and those that do live south of the 40th parallel. If you choose to leave this board then so be it, but let's not leave with the inference that it was my fault.

Sheesh.

Well my wife and daugther both read your post and came to the same conclusion That I did big Okie. That you didn't want me posting anything cause I am minority because I choose to live oin Alyeska. May be you should move to where you can see the Aurora or should have been paying more attention back in 1985 when aurora was seen in El Paso. I am sure there had to be some curtains  over the lower 48 with the glow being seen that far south.

You and your family can choose whatever you wish to choose, but I already know better.  If you wish to be childish and think that is my motive then so be it.  But that's you.  Not me and I'm sure the majority of the board thinks the same.  I'm sorry you've come to that conclusion.

I see you didn't stop posting...

And just so you know this, I have family in AK.  North Pole to be exact.  I don't give a red cent where you live or don't live.

Oh, and in 1985 I was an 18 year old senior in high school spending most of that year tending to my mother, who was in a coma for about 135 days.  So the El Paso aurora wasn't high on my mind at the time.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: DanS on August 08, 2010, 07:23:16 PM
We had an event a few years back that was visible around 37° North.  Not sure it was the Aurora, but local 911 centers got a lot of calls about a red glow low in the sky that looked like a barn fire off in the distance.  That was probably in 2003 or so.

Nothing from this latest event but the Sun is waking up from a long slumber and the frequency and intensity of flares and CMEs is expected to increase over the next few years.



That was about the same time period we saw an Aurora in Va. Beautiful red curtain. I ran inside to get everyone to see. News reports said activity from this event was visible all the way down to northern Texas.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: BigOkie on August 08, 2010, 07:32:53 PM
We had an event a few years back that was visible around 37° North.  Not sure it was the Aurora, but local 911 centers got a lot of calls about a red glow low in the sky that looked like a barn fire off in the distance.  That was probably in 2003 or so.

Nothing from this latest event but the Sun is waking up from a long slumber and the frequency and intensity of flares and CMEs is expected to increase over the next few years.



That was about the same time period we saw an Aurora in Va. Beautiful red curtain. I ran inside to get everyone to see. News reports said activity from this event was visible all the way down to northern Texas.

Doesn't the sun have like an 11-year cycle when it comes to these CMEs/solar flares?  IIRC, I had read we were on the ramp up for these things again...while it's good for the light show, it's not so good for power grids and satellites.
Title: Re: Anyone see Auroras Tuesday night?
Post by: Cienega32 on August 10, 2010, 05:25:43 AM
I think I also read that the transition was very slow for this cycle to begin. I think what I read was that the Science community was expecting more activity a year or two ago and that this was a lot larger than expected. Something about sub-surface jet streams behaving differently this time around.

----------------------

One was witnessed in El Paso in '85? Great! I'm going to keep looking then!  :lol: