Aurora Alert!

[SunQuest]

After watching the space weather web site (www.spaceweather.com) for the past year to try to catch an aurora sighting in my area, the sun has finally released a strong solar flare. The X3 flare hit the earth's atmospher today and auroras are very possible to be seen tonight. Currently the kp index is relatively high and parts of the USA should be able to see the auroras. (Spaceweather has it that there is a 55% chance that mid latitudes will see a "severe" Geomagnetic Storm...)

But... Just my luck! We are totally covered with clouds and rain! I will miss out once again! But for those of you with a clear view of the sky, you might get to see some pretty sights tonight. And of course if you get a chance, take a picture and share with us!

(hint... you see more colors in auroras when you photgraph them as the camera picks up what the eye can't see.)

 

[Shari]

Clouds and lots of rain here too.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

we're clear but i think too far south and west?? let me know if we will be good, i will try to get you some pics. and what time in AZ please (we don't do TV or whatever so i had not heard about this at all, you need to tell me everything i need to know if we ARE a good location)

 

[SunQuest]

we're clear but i think too far south and west?? let me know if we will be good, i will try to get you some pics. and what time in AZ please (we don't do TV or whatever so i had not heard about this at all, you need to tell me everything i need to know if we ARE a good location)

I can't answer this one fully. There have been sightings before in AZ, but rarely, and it is the southern location that may get you. Has nothing to do with east or west. The storm has to be a strong one for you to be able to see it that far south. But doesn't hurt to try.

This is a fairly strong storm, but predicing them is hard at best. I am not even sure how long it will last. But, if you can see it, it will be when it is dark.

Go to spaceweather.com as they are fairly good at updating if the storm is active. Also, I tend to watch this chart at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/kp_3d.html as it shows the strength of the storm. It appears that it may be currently trying to subside.

For my area, it is predicted that the kp value should be better than a seven to see it. But... I have caught faint wisps with a lot less than that value (kp 4) on film. It was very very faint, and when I was standing there it was almost like seeing something super breifly out of the corner of my eye. On one picture, there was a faint green wisp that went through it. But that storm was a dud and was reported by spaceweather as such.

 

[Miniv]

Well........bummer........we're in "sky country" for Oregon and we're all clouded over.

I knew somewhere there would be an aurora considering the size of the solar flare reported by the astronauts. But also knew we probably wouldn't see it.

MA

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

ok i guess i am just "space-weather" challenged... i went to both sites and can't makes heads or tails out of them. so i guess i will just enjoy our moon and stars and occasionally a falling star LOL

 

[SunQuest]

Ok... Here is the deal.

The first sight (www.spaceweather.com) is just a place where they report if there are sunspots and if those sunspots have released any cme's that are headed towards earth. A cme is a coronal mass ejection and is in the most basic sense just some strongly energized particles. If that hits are atmosphere in just the right way, then it will produce the auroras (aka northern lights). This sight also has a photo gallery of the people who took pictures of the aurora.

The second sight that I listed (http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/kp_3d.html) is a sight that lists the geomagnetic storm strength. The higher the number, the stronger the storm.

Last night's aurora's were reported as far south as Arizona according to spaceweather.com which means it was a pretty strong storm. The kp numbers on the second sight were up to 8 which is pretty strong since 9 is as high as it goes. Each bar on the graph is taken at 3 hours apart. So one can see when a storm is gaining strenght and when it is subsiding. This helps to allow one to try to time it so they can go outside when the storm is happening instead of waiting all night outside for something that may not occure.

Here is another sight that helps http://sec.noaa.gov/pmap/. The oval on the pictures represent the area where the auroras are likely to be seen. You will notice that the time is in Universal time which is GMT time. For most of the USA, one would have to subtract hours to get their local time. For example, I am in mountain time so I have to subtract 7 hours to get my local time.

You will also notice at the top of the page that there are some numbers listed. One is the Activity level. Again, 9 is high. The other number that you will see is the "n" number. This number represents the confidence level that the researchers have in their data. The LOWER the "n" number, the more accurate the data, and anything higher than a 2 is not accurate at all. Right now the number is less than 1, so that is very good.

Now looking at the map, If the USA were still dark much of the northern part should be able to see auroras. Now the wait begins to see if it is still going on tonight when the sun sets.

Also, spaceweather.com did say that they think another x class flare (the strongest type) is heading our way. If it is confirmed, and if it hits our atmosphere the heals of this last flare, it could produce even more geomagnetic stormyness. It is all a waiting game....

I wish I could tell you all more about this in depth, but I am really a big newbe to this and it is confusing for sure!

 

[Warpony]

My husbands grandmother in in the hospital, so we went up to visit her, and afterwards we decided to try and find a battery powered christmas tree for her to have in her room. We ended up being out and about until well after my 11 year old daughter's bed time, by the time we got home it was close to 11 pm.

She had crawled into bed, exhausted, when I went outside for a bit with my husband and noticed the northern lights. My daughter has recently been learning about stars and space and such and seems to really be inspired by anything in the sky. So I made a parental decision to say "screw sleep, she needs to see this!!!".

So i snuck in and whispered to her, "are you still up? Go get your shoes on, and go outside."

I, unfortunately, discovered right then that one of my dogs had crapped all over the hallway, so I set to cleaning that up and cursing under my breath while she wandered outside with my husband still wondering what was going on.

Once the dog feces was cleaned up I joined them.

My daughter was wide eyed and giddy, "MOM!" she squealed with delight, "There are shooting stars too! And I found Cassiopeia, and Orion!!"

My husband pointed out a planet, and a star that has been dying and flickers and changes colours. The Northern lights didn't give us any colour but they were very bright and rolled in waves across the sky.

After a half hour or so of having Sparrow, our mini horse, stare at us as if we had lost our minds, we noticed that the shooting stars had stopped, the northern lights had begun to fade, and we were all yawning.

As we went into the house my daughter came up to me, and gave me a hug, and said, "Mom, I think this might be one of those things I'll remember for the rest of my life."

No man made light show can compare to that.

 

[PaintedPromiseRanch]

As we went into the house my daughter came up to me, and gave me a hug, and said, "Mom, I think this might be one of those things I'll remember for the rest of my life."

No man made light show can compare to that.

:aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033: HURRAY FOR YOU, good decision mom!!! what a wonderful early Christmas present for your daughter. and i'll bet she is right, she will remember it for the rest of her life. much more important than a little sleep!! and thanks so much for sharing, you really touched my heart today

:

 

[SunQuest]

How cool Warpony! Yep, I bet your daughter will look back on that one with great fondness. I am sure there was a huge display here, but it was so cloudy all night. Sigh.

Looks like spaceweather.com is reporting that the flare that the sun unleashed yesterday may just give us a glancing blow. I will be keeping an eye out, but I definately don't expect much out of it.

Well, I will just have to catch it next time hopefully.