Aurora Borealis Alert

[Anonymous]

It appears that there is a pretty
good chance of Aurora Borealis
in the mid-latitudes tonight.

http://www.analemma.de/english/auranews.html

http://www.spaceweather.com/

This is an opportunity to photograph the RR

and nature's light show.

Dave

[CShaveRR]

Probably too much light intrusion around here.

Speaking of celestial shows, I hope Ed reports back on the meteor shower excursion!

[edblysard]

Too much overcast...still went to the beach, down to the Galveston seawall, ate seafood and sat on the beach watching waves and ships comeing to the bay.

Love the way waves sound on thebeach at night.

 

[CShaveRR]

Now you know one of the secrets about my annual summer getaway!

[J. Edgar]

on the watch here on the Ply. Sub but tis cloudy

[MP173]

There were (are) AB tonight.  I personally didnt see it, but my niece's boyfriend called her and told her of it.  She was with us as we went to a basketball game and we checked it out a couple of times, but the great industrial output of Northwest Indiana (steel mills) created too much light polution.

He did see it, however in the South Bend area.  A basketball mom at the game confirmed seeing it but didnt realize what it was.

Anyone here an astronomer?  I have a Meade 90mmETX...great scope.

ed

[blhanel]

I got to watch a few minutes worth about 8 PM last night, awesome show, from what little I could make out in spite of the city lights and neighborhood trees.

[eolafan]

Is an Aurora borealis show more intense when viewed from my home town of Aurora, IL?  Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk.

[Anonymous]

Clouds. Clouds. Make them go away.

[TimChgo9]

Clouds for the meteor shower, and clouds for the Aurora Borealis.....  Grrrr...

I read about that early yesterday, I was hoping it was going to clear up, but it didn't  I've always wanted to see those, it would be cool.  Maybe on the the 16th??? That link says there should be another magnetic disturbance coming our way....  

[DennisHeld]

There were (are) AB tonight.  I personally didnt see it, but my niece's boyfriend called her and told her of it.  She was with us as we went to a basketball game and we checked it out a couple of times, but the great industrial output of Northwest Indiana (steel mills) created too much light polution.

He did see it, however in the South Bend area.  A basketball mom at the game confirmed seeing it but didnt realize what it was.

Anyone here an astronomer?  I have a Meade 90mmETX...great scope.

ed

I am an astronomer. I have an Orion XT10i. Mostly cloudy here in Champaign. I was out to view, but too little open sky.

[trainfan1221]

Basically our local meteorologists told us not to even bother looking.  Same went for the meteor shower the other night.

[MP173]

Dennis:

What is an Orion XT10i?  My Meade 90mm ETX is a small scope, but I really like it.  It works really well on doubles, moon, planets, open clusters.  Not so good on the nebulas and galaxies.  Of course the backyard conditions have quite a bit to do with it.  Limiting mag is about 4.25. 

 

Too much light.

ed

[DennisHeld]

Dennis:

What is an Orion XT10i?  My Meade 90mm ETX is a small scope, but I really like it.  It works really well on doubles, moon, planets, open clusters.  Not so good on the nebulas and galaxies.  Of course the backyard conditions have quite a bit to do with it.  Limiting mag is about 4.25. 

 

Too much light.

ed

The Orion XT10i is a 10 inch Dobson mounted reflector. It's a big scope. Too big, really, to easily haul out to a dark location. But it is a good one. With a 10 inch primary, I can do well with nebulas and galaxies. But, it'd be better out in the country.

[Anonymous]

STUPID CLOUDS

[CNW534]

The aurora on the night of December 14-15 was the best I've seen in years.  It was like you could reach out and touch them. Here's what the auroral plot looked like.  Blue means nothing.  The red, orange and yellow areas indicate "intense" aurora activity.

Here it is for the night of December 15-16.  What a big change!

Mark

[miniwyo]

Here I found a daily forecast for it! 

http://www.gedds.alaska.edu/AuroraForecast/Default.asp?Date=20061215

[dldance]

I had hoped to see it as I flew back from Japan on the polar route the night of the 16th - but 2 problems 1) they pulled all the shades down on the plane & 2) I fell asleep.

dd