Aurora borealis

The pics are blurry (I'm still getting used to the camera, and holding it still for night shots!), but here are a couple of shots of the northern lights we saw last weekend.

# 2 of 2. The whole sky was filled, and lots of movement and colour. It was amazing.

Way to go. Great shots. I couldn't get that without a tripod of enormous size.

Thanks! I was holding the camera on our back fence - but I think I still tilted it or something. It seemed like the shutter was open forever.

The next day everyone had stories like "I just went out to take out the garbage, and there were northern lights everywhere..."
They're not as common here as I remember from Edmonton. I guess the trick to seeing them here is to be aware of the solar flare predictions, or something.

Those are great shots! The lights are something I miss from being up north. I lived in Yellowknife and worked on the Arctic coast. The pictures you posted are really a great show. Thanks

Great to see your lights. We saw them too, but not as green. For anyone that doesn't have it already, here is a link to one of the emails of folks that tell you what's coming in the sky.
http://spaceweather.com/
You can subscribe to their newsletter there.

Brenda, thank you! That's exactly what I wanted - I just didn't know it existed. I've just signed up.

Thanks for the great photos, Shannon. I haven't see Northern Lights since we moved here from Edmonton. I miss seeing them. I don't know if they just aren't visable in Southern BC or what. That was a great link Brenda, thks.

Here's another link that I use off and on. It's from the uni of Alaska, and you can get a prediction for your area by clicking on the custom map.
http://www.gi.alaska.edu/cgi-bin/predict.cgi?date=20041121

That's a great one too - thanks, Linda. I'm constantly amazed at what a resourceful bunch DG-ers are. :-)

Yep, according to the custom maps, my area in south western BC just miss out on the visablility of the Lights. Too bad. Thanks for the link, Linda.

If we can see 'em in Ottawa (not often, mind you), there've gotta be some opportunities in Castlegar once in a while - I'll keep my eyes peeled to that newsletter.

Thanks Shannon. I'd love the opportunity to get a good eyeful of the gorgeous Northern Lights again.

Shannon thanks for the pic....they look gorgeous and I'm sorry I missed them.

Thanks for the link Linda will be signing up for updates as well. :)

This message was edited Nov 21, 2004 12:13 PM

Great pictures, another site to use is Aurora Chasers they will email 45 minutes before the lights can be seen in your area.

http://www.aurorachasers.com/

Anna

Great link, Anna. Thanks!

I've just wended my way through that website and signed up; there are a few steps to follow and their order is not immediately evident, so if anyone's doing this, feel free to profit from my mistakes :-) In order to set your "Kp index" alert level (the minimum level of activity at which you want to be alerted), you need your geographic latitude, longitude and corrected magnetic latitude. The site has all the tools for finding these out. The first step is to open the hyperlink in Anna's post, go to the bottom and click on "[Free Alerting(ADEC)]", then in the next page click on "determine your magnetic latitude".

A few cities are listed in the chart and drop-down list, but the easiest & most fun is to go straight to the clickable map lower down, under "Kp maps of midnight equatorward boundaries". Then when you've got your 3 longitude/latitude numbers, go back to the "Free Subscription to ADEC" page and finish signing up. There are a lot of interesting points to read, & tips on choosing your minimum alert level.

Thanks again, Anna! :-)

Shannon

Edited for faulty connection between brain and fingers.



This message was edited Nov 21, 2004 3:14 PM

Way cool site, Anna. Thanks. I am now signed up and will be "briefed and Notified" when the Kp Index is exceeded in my area! Yikes, I feel like an FBI agent!!! LOL

After a few tries, I managed to sign up as well. Great site. Thanks

Wow. thanks to the wonderful photo.
I have seen northern lights, but I never seen such a colourful one.
Do you often see there?

Thanks, Yumiko! We see them very rarely, unfortunately. When I lived in Edmonton I saw them much more often. This is the first time I've seen such vivid colours too! I just wish I could hold the camera completely still for night photos :-)

Earlier we were talking about a Mexican restaurant in Nanaimo but couldn't remember the name - I think I remember now. Is it called Gina's? Pink building, on top of a hill?

You know what?
The other day I saw tha restaurant, and I was thinking about you.
I cannot think of the name right now.
let me see, I will take a look at yellow page here.
...........................................2 min. after
Yes, Gina's mexican cafe!.
You have great memory.

Thanks! I remember it was really interesting inside - lots of Mexican stuff. And the food was pretty good too. :-)

Glad to see you visiting us again Yumiko! :D

Hi Lilyon.
How is your Mother?
Is she feeling better?

Hi Yumiko :)
Mom's finally at home now....spent two weeks under medical care since she dislocated her wrist twice. She's doing much better and we are hoping she moves very carefully! Will be great when we can get them back into their own home....having everything on one floor will be much better then where they are living now.

Hi again everyone,
Just found this link to some photos of the Nov. 7 aurora.

http://ottawa.cbc.ca/ottawamorning/highlights/northernlights/northernlights.html

Spectacular photos! I must admit, I have never seen the Northern Lights look totally green like that before. Beautiful!

Shannon....... Violabird posted a new alert:

Thanks, Pam! We are in the midst of a freezing rain warning....I just took a walk to the local grocery store, and even though I had my furry hood done up as tightly as it would go, the ice pellets still managed to hit my nose. That stings!

Skies may be clear tomorrow for a while here, so I'll keep an eye upward. Hope you have better weather luck!

I wondered if the storm made it to your area yet...the weather channel, last time I checked, showed Ontario was under freezing rain watch. Hopefully you won't get it too bad!

They threatened that another blizzard might strike here but we finally have clear gorgeously blue skies and SUN! :D

I have been getting alerts from the Aurora Boreallis outfit that Shannon hooked us up with. Been getting them since last night. I don't really understand the message it's giving me, but I assume they are saying "Get Out there and look, woman! But I went out last night and ...nothin'. We have been clear again all day, so I will check it out again, but I can't really see how we can see them 'cause we are "mountain-locked here. Completely surrounded, so all we can do is look straight up. But I'll check it out tonight again. Maybe take the dog for a walk or something.

Ah, yes.....only my personal integrity prevents me from accepting the credit! hee hee I think it was Anna, from Pickering (lazygirl1) who shared that site with us. I haven't really understood the e-mails either, but I'm sure you have got the gist of it. I figure, the ones that say "downgrade" are really saying....stay on the couch with the man and the cats, there's nothing to see out there!

Oops, sorry Anna.

Well that would explain why I can't see any Auroras. All my messages have said "downgraded". Oh well...

I've been getting those messages too.

I went out and had a look, it's lovely, stars and only a few clouds, and no wind. Unfortunately, there's no lights either. Oh well, be warm everyone.

Linda in Victoria BC

Clear sky and no lights here as well. :(

Hmm... maybe our "Kp" threshold needs to be raised....so it only tells us if there's a really good chance of seeing something, as opposed to just a somewhat good chance. I think it's probably a useful tool, just needs some tinkering at our end. (?)

I was just out with the dog, 6:10 AM our time. Not a cloud in the sky, stars so bright... and frozen grass the frost was so hard. Again, no lights, but nice to be outside, briefly.

Hope everyone has a good day.

It's really frosty here this morning too. I should have covered over the plants on the porch. They had been okay with previous lighter frosts but not last night. Put hot water on the ice in the bird baths because the birds keep trying to get water but they've already frozen over again.

Nothing last night or this morning. We are cold here this morning as I have heard is the case all over the country. Pam, -30 for you guys in Southern Saskatchewan? Lordy! It was -6 here in my "neck of woods" when I woke, and that's c o l d for here. It has since flown all the way up to ...-3 now. Yikes! Spring, where are you?

LOL Donna what I would give for temperatures like yours.......but without the amount of snow that you can get! ;)