Northern Lights (aurora borealis)

Thanks for the info Carena...maybe I'll be lucky enough to catch a light show oneday...now that I've stopped moving all the time. Washington is my home and no more moving for this girl.

I love fireflies...saw millions while growing up in Maryland. We always called them lightening bugs. Always took it for granted they were everywhere, then in traveling found they were not. One of the few things I miss about home...no fireflies here in WA.

Wild, I dont' blame you for wanting to stay put up there, it's beautiful. I used to vacation on Hood Canal, some of my best memories!!!

Here in Northern Michigan, Northern Lights are a pretty common sight, but we never get tired of them. Last year, for some rerason, they were particularly magnificent. One night they were brilliant pink and they made a spiral at the top of the sky...they were pulsating...it was truely amazing.
We have Fireflies (Lightning Bugs), too...We live on the edge of a natural springs and swamp area and there are millions of them sometimes. As a kid we used to catch them in jars, but my mom would make us set them free before we went to bed. I shared the same experience with my own kids when they were little.

sierrawoman...I bet you have faires too! Your home sounds so wonderful...a place a fairy would definitely want to be!!!!

I'm pretty sure I've seen them out of the corner of my eye when they think I'm not looking. Thanks...I love where we live. I grew up in Leelanau County, about 15 miles from our home here, and I guess I've always really considered Leelanau the home of my sprirt, and this place the home of my heart.

http://science.nasa.gov/spaceweather/aurora/gallery_01jul03.html check out the picture at the bottom by Chris Grey,of a thunderstorm with the lights above it.

Don't you just love these photos? I can just get lost in looking...
So glad to at least get to "see" them on my puter!

Thank you RootDoctor...the pics were awesome.

Those are wonderful photos, thanks for the link rootdoctor

Root - what great photos of the aurora! I really like the one with the windmill. Maybe when I retire I'll do nothing but stay up late at night with my camera, wouldn't that be something!

Sierrawoman - hi from another nothern Michigander (a little farther north, in da UP!)

Hi Weedwhacker! I looked you up on the map. I love that part of the state. Some of our favorite campgrounds are not too far from you---Portage Bay, Lake Ottawa and Flowing Well. I noticed on the map that there is a campground just south-west of you, but I'm not sure which it is. It is beautiful up there in da UP, ey?!

Padre, I loved your story. Sounds so wonderful - wish I could have been there!

About fireflies - we're right near the Great Smoky Mountains, and about this time each year there's a huge congregation of fireflies (migrating?? Surely they don't live long enough to do that - but they congregate every year here). Folks go up to the mountains at night just to watch the light show.

Another show, not of lights, but of flight, that migration reminded me of: sandhill cranes migrate through our area twice each year. It's neat to go down to the river and watch them fly so thickly overhead.

Eanders2, have you seen the glow worms too? They are so magical. Someone told me they are the larval stage of fireflies; don't know if it is true or not.

We have glowworms over here that are mature beetles advertising for a mate, but no fireflies. I often see glowworms when I'm out looking for bats.
I saw fireflies in Belize last year for the first time - magic.....

NoH20, I don't know if they are or not - anyone into bugs enough to tell us?

I think I just did?

Philomel, I don't think the glowworms you have are the same as ours. The ones I have seen are like tiny flat slugs that don't move - they just lie along the grass at the edge of a path or road and emit a dim glow.

NoH2O, are you sure those aren't just weekend hikers who've had too much to drink??? (Sorry!)

I wondered about that but I couldn't figure out how they got to be smaller than the nail on my little finger....do you think they were drinking MOONSHINE?? (get it?)

LOL!!

That's what ours look like too NoH20

They both emit light when attracting a mate, so must be mature insects not larvae. The glow-worm female sits on the ground and emits a glow, which the flying male homes in on.
The firefly female also sits on the ground (both females are flightless) but she flashes her light. The flying male flashes in response (he's the flying firefly)

Neither of their larvae flash, they're too busy filling their faces to be interested in mating LOL (they have to turn into the adult first)

As far as I can find out these are the type of glowworms you have in the USA too (I've put an article about them in New Mexico below). However in New Zealand there are maggots called glowworms (back to the hoary old debate re common names LOL) which hang around in caves attracting prey. So these ones are larvae - but not firefly larvae. Link at the end below :)

BTW LOLOL eanders2!!!!!!.....and love the moonshine bit NoH20

I found these links

Fireflies : http://www.dnr.state.wi.us/org/caer/ce/eek/critter/insect/firefly.htm


And here are our glowworms: http://website.lineone.net/~galaxypix/#Survey


Gloworms in New Mexico:
Glowworms Sighted in Southern New Mexico
Date:
October 02, 1998
Contact:
Carol Sutherland, (505) 646-3207,
Jenifer Schlotfeldt, (505) 646-1072,
Las Cruces -- People who have noticed eerie, blue-green lights the size of pinpoints in the
grass at night may have witnessed a rare sighting of New Mexico glowworms, said an
entomologist with New Mexico State University.

The glowworms have mainly been sighted in Las Cruces, Alamogordo and Lincoln from
August through October.

"Glowworms are insects -- a very unusual group of beetles that are native to this area," said
Carol Sutherland with NMSU's Cooperative Extension Service. "They're luminescent. They
produce light biologically."

Electric light bulbs produce almost 90 percent heat and 10 percent light when they are lit, she
said. But luminescent insects like glowworms produce almost no heat and nearly 100 percent
light. Their bodies produce luciferin, a substance that combines with an enzyme plus oxygen to
produce the light.

A healthy, active glowworm can glow during the day, but its light is only visible in the dark,
Sutherland explained. The beetles seem to be most active at night, while they hide in grass,
mulches and leaf litter and under logs and dead bark during the day.

The adult female glowworm is tan, wingless, flat and elongated. During the day, it can easily
be mistaken for a dried fir needle or grass clipping. Two specimens collected in Alamogordo
were about five-eighths of an inch long, but some of the larger species can exceed an inch in
length as adults. Male glowworms are small, winged beetles.

"For all of their interesting features and behavior, very little is known about these odd little
beetles," Sutherland said. Glowworms are part of the few native insects to the area that light
up. Entomologists like Sutherland have been trying to collect the insects for their records.

To help, amateur collectors should look at night in grassy or weedy areas. Once glowworms
have been spotted, collectors just have to pick them up, Sutherland said.

"Glowworms are too tiny to bite humans and they are harmless to handle," she added.

Live specimens are preferred. Once caught, the insects should be put in a small container with
a piece of paper towel that has a drop of water on it. If dead specimens are collected, they
should be placed in a small container of rubbing alcohol.

Collected glowworms can be sent to Sutherland at the Extension Plant Sciences Department,
Box 30003, MSC 3AE, Las Cruces, NM 88003-8003, or delivered to room 130 Gerald
Thomas Hall on the NMSU campus.


Here are the maggot glowworms: http://www.abc.net.au/science/slab/glowworm/default.htm


This message was edited Tuesday, Aug 5th 2:41 AM

TONITE'S A NIGHT!

"As a result of a high speed flow from a solar coronal hole, possibly aggravated by an interplanetary shock from a solar flare on 19th August, aurora sightings are expected in the northern sections of the U.S."

Another update--or should I stop?

"Passage of Earth through the solar wind neutral sheet on the 16th produced some auroral activity seen in the northern tier of states in the US and in Northern Europe now (1900 UT). There should be continued activity tonight (9/17), and on the 18th, tapering off by the weekend."

Don't stop viola it's fascinating. A shame I'm just not in the right spot here, will have to make a journey some time!

Come on over to my place, Phil, and we'll lie back on my old car's hood and watch the show!

What about me, Weez? Don't I get an invite?
Vi

Sure, Vi! It's an old '77 Dodge Diplomat... plenty of room. Bring your coat, it gets chilly. Maybe I'll start up the old Dip' and warm up that hood before we climb on!

Have seen the lights lots at home but the sights I see here are pale compared To those I have seen in several Alaska locations.

Vi....a funny story
...I was up in the north woods by our cabin. Out in the ol' rowboat alone, fishin',the catch was good,before I realized that it had gotten dark. There I am ,sitting in the middle of a black lake when the skys started to look like an alien invasion was about to take place. Couldn't row fast enough for land......
.......tee-hee ..back then I had not heard of Northern Lights,sure wish I could be in that situation again.
..DONE...
shirley >^,,^< SB

Aw Shirley, you lucky duck! That's one reason I put this here, hardly anyone has seen them in the states, and the rare times it's even seen down south is usually unheard of!

Weez, look out, I might have to take you up on that! I'm sure not getting any younger. Is there any month better than others to see em? Wonder if they ever see them on those cruise ships, too light? What about a train trip?

Violabird, I'm not expert on the Northern Lights, but they seem to happen in the really cold, clear nights of winter here. I can recall going outdoors in my nightgown, trying to stay out as long as I could, in case I would miss the really spectacular moments!

OMG I somehow wasn't watching this thread any more, so missed the last few posts

I'd love to take you up on the offer some time Weez, thanks :) Sounds as if the trip would need to be in the middle of winter though - will I get through? LOL Brrr
See you there viola (just as well it's a large hood on your Dodge Weez *g*)

Great story scooterbug

Phil,
....Yeah,that was some experience,it was in June...... a huge display compared to the piddly ones we see here at home. I guess we are to close to towns lights here. I am in the countryside but not out far enough .;-(
SB

This message was edited Sep 22, 2003 10:58 AM

With all the light pollution around here I wouldn't stand any chance of seeing them even if I was far enough north

Wow, they just saw it in Louisville, KY. last nite!
More to come this and next week.
http://www.spacew.com/index.html

I grew up in Pennsylvania but I never saw them. It was always so cloudy there. Now, I probably live too far south to see them, plus we don't have a good view to the north.

Viola!
What about the flare that just went by today??? Does the flare have to go by at night? Do you think we'll see any due to it soon?

Jenks, what flare?

With the sunspot activity and solar winds, it IS possible to see them down here, (my friends saw them last year).

Vi

The news reported that cellular service may have been knocked out today due to a solar flare. I work in a satellite network ops center, and we were warned that IF it was going to affect us, it would at about 1pm. Is that different? I thought I read to look for the borealis especially when there were solar flares? Should I look tonight? :0D

At what time should one look? Does it need to be really dark, like after midnight?