Second Chance of Possible Northern Lights

firemansam4

Clouds cleared for a while last night but no sign of anything, i think there wasn't as much activity as they were predicting.

They are predicting a lot of activity tonight and tomorrow but looks like its still going to be cloudy.

Here is a couple of useful sites to check out...

http://www.softservenews.com/Aurora.htm

http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Europe/2012/03/07

slimboyfat

Any good webites to look at to predict the cloud cover?

simonrooneyzaga

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0308/solar.html rte saying they will be visible over central asia tonight but the IT is saying it could be seen here.

For Dublin dwellers, where would the best potential spot be to view from?

muffler

slimboyfat wrote: »

Any good webites to look at to predict the cloud cover?

The weather forum might be worth a look

Harps

Satellite view here, not a prediction but you can look out west to see what's coming in the next few hours. Looks like plenty more cloud to come yet

http://www.sat24.com/gb

slimboyfat

simonrooneyzaga wrote: »

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0308/solar.html rte saying they will be visible over central asia tonight but the IT is saying it could be seen here.

For Dublin dwellers, where would the best potential spot be to view from?

Somewhere with little light pollution, weather permitting of course.

homer simpson

Doesn't look too likely tonight either...well so far anyway.




The red line needs to be down past Donegal on the map for there to be even a chance of visibility here I'm afraid. Also cloud cover don't look too good.

firemansam4

homer_simpson wrote: »

Doesn't look too likely tonight either...well so far anyway.




The red line needs to be down past Donegal on the map for there to be even a chance of visibility here I'm afraid. Also cloud cover don't look too good.

Could i ask where you got that image from homer?
Cant get any short term images on site I was looking on.

homer simpson

firemansam4 wrote: »

Could i ask where you got that image from homer?
Cant get any short term images on site I was looking on.

Na I'm not going to tell you where I found it

harpstilidie

That line is very close to Donegal now. Pity I'm in Belfast atm

http://helios.swpc.noaa.gov/ovation/

firemansam4

homer_simpson wrote: »

Na I'm not going to tell you where I found it

Thankyou

Seems like viewing line has moved down to touch donegal now, but still way too cloudy out there!

muckish

homer_simpson wrote: »

This is a test product and hasn't really been very sucessful at predicting the Aurora oval. So I wouldn't read too much into it.
The main variables to look for is the direction and strength of the z component of the IMF (interplanetary magnetic field). This has to be south and have a value below -10nT. The solar wind speed has to be high above 400km/sec.

slimboyfat

Current conditions are at excellent, just hope they stay that way till later this evening.

ednwireland

slimboyfat wrote: »

Current conditions are at excellent, just hope they stay that way till later this evening.

and the cloud lifts

danniemcq

will the bright fullish moon not ruin it?

slimboyfat

danniemcq wrote: »

will the bright fullish moon not ruin it?

May make it a bit more difficult to see but if it is strong enough it still should be visable.

khlebnikov

Living in Cork. would it be worth getting into the car and heading to donegal tonight. i think the kp forecast is supposed to be 6. would love to see it.

muffler

khlebnikov wrote: »

Living in Cork. would it be worth getting into the car and heading to donegal tonight. i think the kp forecast is supposed to be 6. would love to see it.

A bit like backing a horse really. It's an awful long way from Cork to here and bear in mind you'd be making your way to the northern coastline for the best opportunity.

danniemcq

plus with the constantly changing weather up here at the minute it could be clear skies for most of the day and when you hit the border it starts lashing.

with the solar activity supposed to continue through this year you might be better waiting for summer and better weather.

Although if you wanna give it a go fair play and i hope it all works out

khlebnikov

danniemcq wrote: »

with the solar activity supposed to continue through this year you might be better waiting for summer and better weather.

are they viewable through the summer months? i didn't realize that. I think i'll stay at home tonight anyway. knowing my luck the weather would be against me. i have looked into flying to finland for them before, so might treat myself to it towards the end of year. hope the skies stay clear for those of you living further north. would be an incredible sight.

firemansam4

I went on an hours drive to see them Wednesday night but was disappointed to see nothing, was considering going again last night but with the cloud cover i decided to leave it, but just seen that some people up in Ballyliffin caught them last night and a few good pictures of it.

Hard to know about tonight, looks like weather is going to stay bad.

firemansam4

danniemcq wrote: »

plus with the constantly changing weather up here at the minute it could be clear skies for most of the day and when you hit the border it starts lashing.

with the solar activity supposed to continue through this year you might be better waiting for summer and better weather.

Although if you wanna give it a go fair play and i hope it all works out

khlebnikov wrote: »

are they viewable through the summer months? i didn't realize that. I think i'll stay at home tonight anyway. knowing my luck the weather would be against me. i have looked into flying to finland for them before, so might treat myself to it towards the end of year. hope the skies stay clear for those of you living further north. would be an incredible sight.

I think the problem with waiting til the summer is the further we go in the less night hours there will be. At the moment if conditions are good at 21.00 then you can head out and see them as its dark, but in a few months it will still be still bright out at that time.

muckish

firemansam4 wrote: »

I went on an hours drive to see them Wednesday night but was disappointed to see nothing, was considering going again last night but with the cloud cover i decided to leave it, but just seen that some people up in Ballyliffin caught them last night and a few good pictures of it.

Hard to know about tonight, looks like weather is going to stay bad.

Where have you seen photos of what was seen last night from Ballyliffin?
I've seen one photo which seems to have made the media, but to me it doesn't look like the northern lights at all. Looks more like light pollution reflecting off low cloud cover. There seems to be a ground light source (town, village) below it.

James74

danniemcq wrote: »

with the solar activity supposed to continue through this year you might be better waiting for summer and better weather.

Unfortunately the aurora can tend to be seasonal, and summer in the northern hemisphere is low season. This doesn't mean that you don't get displays in the summer, just that they are less likely.

http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2002/23sep_auroraseason/

But imagine how great would it be to get a mild clear summer night on Pollen beach with a aurora display

James

homer simpson

muckish wrote: »

Where have you seen photos of what was seen last night from Ballyliffin?
I've seen one photo which seems to have made the media, but to me it doesn't look like the northern lights at all. Looks more like light pollution reflecting off low cloud cover. There seems to be a ground light source (town, village) below it.

Yeah that seems to be the case alright, it was very very faint. There are a few photos here on facebook.

What people don't really realise is that (even back in Jan there) that the display we get is nothing compared to the ones seen from Scandinavia. Our version is just barely visible with the naked eye and most of the photo's you see are long exposure's (more that 30 second exposure's) that tends to pick up things that we don't, the photo's are what we see with the naked eye multiplied by 100 so will always look way more spectacular.

danniemcq

hah i guess you learn something new everyday!

so these days better chance of seeing them but clouds are everywhere

in the summber less chance of seeing them but better skies!

its a catch 22

firemansam4

muckish wrote: »

Where have you seen photos of what was seen last night from Ballyliffin?
I've seen one photo which seems to have made the media, but to me it doesn't look like the northern lights at all. Looks more like light pollution reflecting off low cloud cover. There seems to be a ground light source (town, village) below it.

If you have facebook and look up donegal weather channel, then he has some photos posted on his site.

Fully Established

What are the chances this evening to see the northern lights from either the west or north of Dublin ?

Flibbles

Fully Established wrote: »

What are the chances this evening to see the northern lights from either the west or north of Dublin ?

Someone from Meath is saying they can see it, also someone from Cavan.

slimboyfat

Flibbles wrote: »

Someone from Meath is saying they can see it, also someone from Cavan.

Well I was out about an hour ago, nice clear patch in the sky and seen nothing.