Got clear skies? - head out to the countryside

cloudy in TO
This is a very unusual situation as it's a major solar storm well outside the normal 11 year peak of solar activity.

Have a look if it's clear - you might get a once in a life time treat.

I remember one such event I was standing outside the farmhouse looking north and the waves of light swept over in huge ripples - for the first and only time I could feel the passage the of the earth through space. It was almost disorienting as you could see and thus feel te earth rushing through space. A wonderful experience.

We saw a big one a couple years ago - very intense colours for Ontario.

[ October 31, 2003, 08:55 PM: Message edited by: macdoc ]

Last night at 12:30am Pacific time the Borealis was incredible. I'd never seen anything like it. Neither had two of my friends who are both astronomy TAs. A green band began to grow in the Northern sky. The green band shimmered and visibly grew. Eventually the sky was engrossed. Then lines and tips of the phenomena turned a brilliant red hue. Amazing!

It's sad to think most people missed it and even more wouldn't even care.

This is just about as rural as you can get...and I just went outside to have a look. Nada.

There are no city lights to mar the night sky and no real neighbors, either. No traffic sounds because there is no traffic. Just silence and the deer milling around in the bush. And a rather loud owl.

But...so far no lightshow. I'll check again later.

They're scared of rednecks

Macnutt you should be getting a good view - just remember to take off the handy dandy rose coloured right wing "see through the girls clothes" X-ray specs

Here's earlier this month from PQ - this activity is very unusual during this part of the solar cycle so enjoy it - 8 more years before it peaks again.

That was one of the most moving, spiritual, incredible things I have seen in my life. I am jealous of those of you who live far enough north to see the lights regularly. This was my first time, and I am awe-struck.

I agree Kuni - the n lights really give me a sense of both the fragility of our tiny planet and the beauty the universe can engender.
It always reminds me that we are whirling through a frighteningly gorgeous yet totally uncaring universe, our planet is such a tiny dust mote in the galaxy let alone the universe. Makes one happy to snuggle in tight with a lover and celebrate being human.
Glad you got a chance to see them - I rousted out one of my staff out at midnight last year and we went chasing a clear view for a few hours. The reds were soooo intense

I just read about this last night in the G&M. Mentioned that they would be quite spectacular mostly due to solar flares that occurred. Article made note that they could disrupt satellite comm etc... Anyhow, things are cloudy out here (Queen st GTA), and unless it clears today, I'll be unable to see anything

H!

(from last April)



It's surreal to see events like this happen.

Awesome pic

Ive seen the Northern Lights several times around here...but the last two nights have been totally uneventful.

Too far south, I guess. Or my mountain is blocking out the display.

And I am not wearing any sort of glasses macdoc. I'll leave that up to you "Still-stuck-in-the-sixties-types".

Personally, I'd rather see life (and the lights) without any sort of filtration between my eyeballs and reality, thank you very much.

[img]graemlins/lmao.gif[/img] [img]graemlins/lmao.gif[/img]