Aurora Prospects 2012

Mountainsandh

from Co Waterford should one look towards the North West for a better chance to see anything ? (assuming clear skies which we haven't atm)
I'm further down than you guys up the way, but light pollution is very low in my area. But I have a mountain to my North West

Aiel

Kp still at 8 but theres heavy cloud and some rain here in Galway.A few weeks ago it was at 9kp and i took a drive to the darker skies on the outskirts of the city but heavy clouds rolled in then aswell,so frustrating:(.

eskimocat

Had a look outside, too cloudy. Pity, cause last night was crystal clear!

Lumi

Aiel wrote: »

Kp still at 8 but theres heavy cloud and some rain here in Galway.A few weeks ago it was at 9kp and i took a drive to the darker skies on the outskirts of the city but heavy clouds rolled in then aswell,so frustrating:(.

+1

Deatr

Got a great view of the Aurora tonight flying back from Manchester.

Iancar29

Cant believe i missed this!!!... DID ANYONE SEE ANYTHING!!!!?

DickBunce

Has the Aurora ever been seen from Counties below Galway to Wicklow?

Mountainsandh

according to this site, the probability of it being seen from Paris is of 1 night per year, and Dublin 10 nights per year. So I guess Southern countries probability of seeing is something between <10 and 1 night per year.

But the further you are from it, and the lower it will appear in the horizon, meaning that if, like me, you have mountains/an obstacle to the side where it should be, you probably won't see a thing anyway. Pity I can't just head off in the car to a good watch out point.

muckish

I saw the aurora last night through the few breaks in cloud cover we had last night around midnight. Having trouble downloading images from the camera at the moment. will post if I can get them downloaded.
Basically all that was visible was the green glow through the clouds, nothing spectacular but nice to see all the same.

Elmer Blooker

DickBunce wrote: »

Has the Aurora ever been seen from Counties below Galway to Wicklow?

Yes. In October and November 2003 spectacular aurora were visible ALL over the country.
http://www.met.ie/climate/monthlyBulletins/nov03.pdf

muckish

The only gaps in the clouds we had. But still a glimpse.:)

Strangegravy

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

DickBunce wrote: »

Has the Aurora ever been seen from Counties below Galway to Wicklow?

Yes. In October and November 2003 spectacular aurora were visible ALL over the country.
http://www.met.ie/climate/monthlyBulletins/nov03.pdf

Brilliant... thanks for this, I remember seeing them a good few years ago but never knew exactly when or if it was widely reported. The timing of this would be about right..

Iancar29

muckish wrote: »

The only gaps in the clouds we had. But still a glimpse.:)

Wish i could see them!

Was that an exposure shot btw?

muckish

Photo details: iso800 20seconds @ f4.0 17-40mm f4L lens. Shot in RAW format. White balance set to 2500K afterwards. Canon Rebel XTi (400d)
Clouds were reflecting light from everywhere around eventhough I was at a relatively dark site.
It's a pity it didn't happen the night before as it was a crystal clear night sky. I havn't seen a night as clear in ages.

4gun

sorry..meant to change this last night, first i am not suceptable to flights of fancy by last noght when I looked at the northern Horizon there was an unusual glow that i had not noticed before( I do spend a bit of time sky watching on a clear night) unfortunately my Aurora was nothing more that low level cloud illuminated by some very distant town lights :o

sparrowcar

4gun wrote: »

the whole northern horizon is glowing to nignt seen a 2:20 red to tne north with a blue-green tint to the west It is quite lo in the sky but the most substantial I have ever seen from here in north kerry

Hi 4gun,

Are you sure, the KP for last night was very low as I checked myself and they gave 0% chance?

PixelTrawler

Prepare to be stunned...

http://vimeo.com/21419634

muckish

Solyad wrote: »

Prepare to be stunned...

http://vimeo.com/21419634

Beautiful Video. I love the part where the aurora reflects off the sea in the fjiord. Heading to Sweden next month so hopefully it coincides with some aurora activity.

jdee99

I'm stunned!

Thank you

JD

muckish

Geomagnetic storm in progress at the moment. As it's dark in Alaska at the moment, watch it here live. (image refreshed every 5 minutes)
http://salmon.nict.go.jp/live/aurora_cam/live_aurora_cam_e.html

melekalikimaka

hitting tromso hopefully for a week end of january, depending in what photography gear i can source for it, costs a god damn bomb in equipment, stupid lack of ff camera. rental is insane.

Iancar29

melekalikimaka wrote: »

hitting tromso hopefully for a week end of january, depending in what photography gear i can source for it, costs a god damn bomb in equipment, stupid lack of ff camera. rental is insane.

ANd im Going to Kiruna , Sweeden around the same time!

FIngers crossed for both of us pal... fingers crossed!

muckish

Iancar29 wrote: »

ANd im Going to Kiruna , Sweeden around the same time!

FIngers crossed for both of us pal... fingers crossed!

Will you pay a visit to the European magnetometer? Hope you've got your camera gear ready as we will be expecting photos!
I'm heading over to Sweden in 2 weeks time. Not as far north as Kiruna mindyou. Hopefully the sun is entering another active period as the past few weeks have been depressingly quiet.

PixelTrawler

Aurora seen down as far as Texas last night. Anyone catch any here?

Looked like a strong storm

lolie

Solyad wrote: »

Aurora seen down as far as Texas last night. Anyone catch any here?

Looked like a strong storm

Went outside for few mins monday night/tuesday morn at 2 a.m and noticed the sky was bright to the north behind a few breaks in the clouds. After checking spaceweather.com for past few weeks and nothing i assumed it was probably the moon rising so fecked off in and went to bed. I was fairly pissed of after reading muckish's post yesterday morn then weylin's thread in Astronomy forum about 'blood red auroras'.

4Sheets

Thought this thread was the best place for this..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66p_IvjHXhE

muckish

Strong Aurora in Alaska at the moment.
http://salmon.nict.go.jp/live/aurora_cam/live_aurora_cam_e.html

Elmer Blooker

Why is the aurora visible in Kansas and we never see it?
Kansas lies at the same latitude as southern Spain, Sicily and Athens?
Maybe its because we seem to be under a permanent blanket of cloud!

muckish

Elmer Blooker wrote: »

Why is the aurora visible in Kansas and we never see it?
Kansas lies at the same latitude as southern Spain, Sicily and Athens?
Maybe its because we seem to be under a permanent blanket of cloud!

This was an extraordinary event in that the IMF dipped so far south at the time. Kansa is at a latitude of 39 degrees N and Ireland at 54 degrees. But the geomagnetic latitude is 48 and 53 respectively.
Also the geomagnetic axis doesn't correlate with the N-S Earth Axis. It's tilted over northern canada and therefore the oval around this magnetic axis dips further south over northern america than it does over Northern Europe. Check out www.spaceweather.com and see the aurora ovals at the bottom of the page. This will show you where the aurora should be visible around the poles.

Mountainsandh

muckish wrote: »

This was an extraordinary event in that the IMF dipped so far south at the time. Kansa is at a latitude of 39 degrees N and Ireland at 54 degrees. But the geomagnetic latitude is 48 and 53 respectively.
Also the geomagnetic axis doesn't correlate with the N-S Earth Axis. It's tilted over northern canada and therefore the oval around this magnetic axis dips further south over northern america than it does over Northern Europe. Check out www.spaceweather.com and see the aurora ovals at the bottom of the page. This will show you where the aurora should be visible around the poles.

Your link says : More auroras are possible on Nov. 4th. A coronal mass ejection (CME) left the sun on Oct. 31st when a solar filament erupted; the cloud could deliver a glancing blow to Earth's magnetic field this Thursday.

The greenish photo from Canada is so cool.