We were lucky enough to see sporadic snippets of the aurora borealis this evening. Some lovely flickering flashes of green seen in the distance from North Oxfordshire. Made up for a crap day. If your in a dark area Midlands or further North you could be lucky today/tomorrow.
Unexpectedly saw them from Brize one night in the 90's (? IIRC). Nobody ever believes me! :beers:
Quote from: RailGooner on December 11, 2020, 10:18:13 PM
Unexpectedly saw them from Brize one night in the 90's (? IIRC). Nobody ever believes me! :beers:
If I'd not experienced it this evening I probably wouldn't believe you either.
It was one of those things, right place, right time.
No piccies, then?
Quote from: Bealman on December 11, 2020, 11:21:09 PM
No piccies, then?
We were outside doing the horses, phone and camera were in the house. It was only appearing as brief glimpses and flashes so would have very difficult to catch.
All we've had tonight and last night is grey, cloudy, rainy skies here in Manchester :(
More night sky effects for you......
https://uk.yahoo.com/news/geminid-meteor-shower-set-illuminate-141314223.html
I spent a fortune on a trip to Norway a few years ago to not see the northern lights :(
I have an "Aurorawatch" app on my Ipad which flags up when the magnetic activity in the atmosphere might make the Northern Lights visible. Last night it showed a brief peak of activity between 8pm and 9pm. I nipped to an upstairs bedroom which looks towards the dark only to find there was thick fog. >:( I have a planned visit to the Highlands in March 2021 which it turns out will coincide with a string of moonless nights. So hopefully some cold clear nights, lots of activity, and no overriding travel restrictions. Some hopes.
The geomagmetic storm was forecast a couple of days back and said to have been caused by a Coronal Mass Ejection from the sun.
With current auroral activity and NPN mentioning the Geminid meteor shower that's visible (perhaps) over the next few days, I'm reminded of a trip up the The Lake District at this time if year back in about 1990.
Heading for a cottage below Helvellyn near Glenridding, we travelled after work from the Bucks/Northants border up the M1 then across the M62 and up the M6. Once north of Rugby we noted the evening sky had an odd colour cast about it, not dissimilar to late sunset, but fainter and we were seeing the colour to the north.
Motoring on the colours became brighter and more varied and by the time we were crossing the Pennines there was no doubting we were seeing an auroral display. It was entrancing, and once on the A66 absolutely brilliant, the like of which I have not been lucky enough to see again, despite having travelled a lot farther north.
The following two nights gave us a superb display of Geminid meteors, our cottage being in decidedly 'dark sky' country up an old mine works track, so despite the penetrating cold we stood a long time watching the best meteor shower I've yet seen.
Sadly the weather here in Lincs this may spoil any chance of seeing them this year.
You lucky b*****d! I live south of London, and its light pollution gives me little chance of ever seeing aurorae. I've had better luck with meteors though.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/5738/20544334696_7b66a5203e_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/xir5Xb)
A Perseid meteor, after processing and cropping. (https://flic.kr/p/xir5Xb) by Jim Easterbrook (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_easterbrook/), on Flickr
Light pollution is still a problem though. Here's the unprocessed image.
(https://live.staticflickr.com/505/20499648162_e93e28d647_z.jpg) (https://flic.kr/p/xeu4cG)
A Perseid meteor, before processing (https://flic.kr/p/xeu4cG) by Jim Easterbrook (https://www.flickr.com/photos/jim_easterbrook/), on Flickr
Quote from: woodbury22uk on December 12, 2020, 12:30:32 PM
The geomagmetic storm was forecast a couple of days back and said to have been caused by a Coronal Mass Ejection from the sun.
Is there a vaccine for this yet?