The Accidental Smallholder Forum
Community => Coffee Lounge => Topic started by: SallyintNorth on August 03, 2011, 02:04:23 pm
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Apparently there was a big solar flare last night and there's a chance of seeing lights low on the horizon from Edinburgh northwards tonight and maybe tomorrow night.
Get your camera batteries charged!
The website (http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/4 (http://www.gi.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/4)) has an hourly forecast so you can 'watch' from your chair and go outside when they think it'll happen in the next hour. (Mind, check the GMT time on it - it doesn't always update every hour...)
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Thanks, I never did get the hang of our camera for night photos, I shall take a look!!
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Id lovely to see them, fingers crossed :wave:
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Fantastic! It's well worth trying to take some photos, even if you can't see all that much with the naked eye, as the camera can actually magnify the effect. You'll need a tripod, long exposure, and also set the shutter delay so that you don't cause camera shake when you press the button.
This is one of my better efforts from a few years ago..... mind you, I had to travel to the Arctic Circle to take it, so I'm quite excited at the prospect of seeing them from a bit further South! ;D
(http://i81.photobucket.com/albums/j216/Blutack/TAS2011/Northernlights.jpg)
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Great photo. Now believe it or not I once saw them (not this good though) in Brighton
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your photo is lovely, definitely a sight to remember even without a camera
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Wow, amazing photo!
Might we see them in northern England?
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thats a cracking picture, your very lucky Womble :wave:
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Oh that's a brilliant picture, Womble - thanks for posting. I can only imagine what it feels like to see something like that 'in the flesh'.
jaykay - the forecast is for a magnitude 5, which is quite active. The written forecast expects that any activity should be visible on the horizon from Edinburgh, but in general a magnitude 5 could just about be visible from north Cumbria. And it's only a forecast - it could be more, or less, or none!
The actual activity map for 8:45 pm this evening shows some energy overhead - but not much. The pundits say that midnight is the best time to look (generally, not just tonight) and that the activity will come in bursts, often quietening down for an hour then becoming active again.
I certainly think it's worth a look outside before going to bed tonight! ;D
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Nothing happening over Edinburgh as yet - 10.30pm ::)
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Fingers crossed i'll manage to stay awake to see this one, it's a clear night over us so fingers crossed
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Well I stayed up thanks to a strong coffee at 10.00pm but I dare not venture out on my own at that time of night so, did anyone get some nice shots of it?
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I was out at 10ish checking ponies, putting hens to bed and calling cats in but didn't see a thing :( Hope I didn't miss a great show but that's bedtime for me ::)
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Nothing to see where we were unfortunately, with a fair bit of cloud in the way. Spectacular sunrise though.
Tonight's another night!
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There was definately a pinkish light in the North Eastern sky, well towards the horizon, last night. It was changing in intensity and shape all the time, but could not definately identify it as anything apart from "unusual".
Thats the Orkney/Shetland area from here. Anyone there see anything? Or did you just have a big bonfire? ;D
Dave
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It was too foggy here last night, maybe tonight :wave:
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What a dimbo ??? :-[ :-[ :-[ I read that it would be seen around Edniburgh, so i looked out last night towards Edinburgh and saw nothing - Edinburgh is South of me so I was looking South - should have looked to the North! :-[ :-[
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Oops :D
Well tomorrow night I shall be camping in Oban, so if they're still active then I might see them - nothing last night :-\
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Womble, camping with a few glasses of pop and you will see it all!!!! Hope the midges aren't hungry!!
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I'm off out to look NORTH right now! Don't know why I was so dim last evening - they are the Northern Lights after all! And I am from Aberdeen! I should have remembered the song, shouldn't I? ::) :-[
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Not a flaming thing - except teat teh sky was a wee bit lighter but no movement or colours. I have seen them before when we lived outside Ellon - no street lights, right at the top of a hill, went upstairs and looked out the side window, and it was absolutely beautiful. streaks across teh sky of blues, purples and yellows, moving in ripples. We were both so enthralled that we totally forgot about taking a photo or film of it.
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There was definately a pinkish light in the North Eastern sky, well towards the horizon, last night. It was changing in intensity and shape all the time, but could not definately identify it as anything apart from "unusual".
Thats the Orkney/Shetland area from here. Anyone there see anything? Or did you just have a big bonfire? ;D
Well I could write exactly the same words as Dave for this evening here about half an hour ago; fifteen minutes ago the light on the northern horizon disappeared. I'm not sure if it was really Aurora or whether it was just that the cloud cover was not quite a blanket and then came all the way down. But there did seem to be an occasional moving shimmering thing going on. BH thought much the same - and then went to bed because last time he saw the lights (about 20 years ago I think) they were all across the sky. ::)
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Still worth keeping an eye out folks. Here's the latest forecast:
Auroral activity will be high(+). Weather permitting, highly active auroral displays will be visible overhead from Tromsų, Norway to as far south as Oslo, and visible low on the horizon from Moscow.
Forecaster Comments: The effects of the solar events of the past 3 days are have been arriving at Earth and should provide aurora viewing for the next 3 days for the northern tier states in the US, north of England, southern Scandinavia. The skies should be dark enough at midnight south of 60 degrees N Latitude to see this aurora. The aurora should reach as far south as Chicago, if the present activity continues.