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Aurora Prospects 2014

124

Comments

  • #152
    John.Icy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,015 ✭✭✭John.Icy


    Absolute nonsense for the media to only jump on it TODAY when the main event was most likely last night.

    But I won't rule out anything, if the IMF goes back south the KP could creep back up.


  • #153
    mdogg88
    Registered Users Posts: 5 ✭mdogg88


    hi I'm in the kildare area, what are the chances of getting a look at the aurora tonight? should I go to the coast for a better chance of seeing them?


  • #154
    Rikand
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,421 ✭✭✭✭Rikand


    mdogg88 wrote: »
    hi I'm in the kildare area, what are the chances of getting a look at the aurora tonight? should I go to the coast for a better chance of seeing them?

    If the clouds clear up to the top of dunmurray hill could be decent if your in that area


  • #155
    lolie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,381 ✭✭✭lolie


    Unfortunately as things stand theres no hope of seeing aurora anywhere in Ireland tonight :(
    As ever there's a chance things could pick up but at the minute that chance is very slim.
    So for people planning on heading north unless north is Norway then it looks like it's a wasted journey.


  • #156
    Rikand
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,421 ✭✭✭✭Rikand


    lolie wrote: »
    Unfortunately as things stand theres no hope of seeing aurora anywhere in Ireland tonight :(
    As ever there's a chance things could pick up but at the minute that chance is very slim.
    So for people planning on heading north unless north is Norway then it looks like it's a wasted journey.

    The Winter is young! :D


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  • #157
    Alanstrainor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 23,157 ✭✭✭✭Alanstrainor


    All I got was a car driving past, and the ****e scared out of me when a deer can up behind me!

    322121.JPG


  • #158
    irishbarb
    Registered Users Posts: 130 ✭✭irishbarb


    It was visible last night in Clare. First time ever seeing it, I read that there was a chance last night so I went out for a look and saw what look like faint white ripples that came and went. Wouldn't have really noticed it if I wasn't looking. That was around half nine. Went for a look at 12am again to see if it would look any clearer/more colourful but I couldn't see anything at all after that. Still cool to see though :)


  • #159
    PixelTrawler
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,299 ✭✭✭PixelTrawler


    At KP2 last night there was no way you saw Aurora from Ireland last night. Also they would not have been white. You'd need kp 8 probably from Clare.

    This shows roughly the kp values (strength of the storm) and where aurora would be visible.

    http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/Aurora/globeNE.gif


  • #160
    fits
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,644 ✭✭✭✭fits


    PixelTrawler wrote: »
    . Also they would not have been white. You'd need kp 8 probably from Clare.
    ]

    When it is very faint it can look white, like clouds. Shows up faint green then in photographs. But agree that it probably wasn't seen last night from Clare. 9.30pm too close to sunset also.


  • #161
    electrobanana
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,420 ✭✭✭electrobanana


    Quick question lads im in the Shetland islands will i be visible here i might take a drive up north away from lights to get a good view??


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  • #162
    fits
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,644 ✭✭✭✭fits


    Nothing much doing right now for Shetland, or anywhere else really.


  • #163
    Calibos
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 7,810 ✭✭✭Calibos


    fits wrote: »
    When it is very faint it can look white, like clouds. Shows up faint green then in photographs. But agree that it probably wasn't seen last night from Clare. 9.30pm too close to sunset also.

    Maybe they saw noctilucent clouds.


  • #164
    fits
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,644 ✭✭✭✭fits


    Calibos wrote: »
    Maybe they saw noctilucent clouds.

    that's what I would think


  • #165
    jfSDAS
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 352 ✭✭jfSDAS


    Not noctilucent cloud either ... it's way too late in the season to catch them from here.

    I'd suspect it was high cirrus or possibly aircraft contrails that were seen. I saw a lot of persistent and broad contrails the last couple of days due to the weather system over Ireland at the moment.

    There was a little bit of discussion over on the Astronomy forum about the aurora predictions for Saturday night. As I mentioned there, it is extremely disappointing that the facts either being fed to the media, or the media themselves, are distorting the reality of what will be seen by people whether it's aurora, comets, or space stations flying over.

    I am seriously considering writing to a number of the media outlets to highlight the astronomy events even in this last year or so that have been somewhat sensationalised and are factually lacking.

    To be honest, I think people must feel there is a lot of disinformation being peddled about celestial events worth looking out for. To be fair, it is getting a lot of people looking up but you only have to look back over this and other threads to see where events have been hyped up to high heaven at times on the part of the media.

    John


  • #166
    irishbarb
    Registered Users Posts: 130 ✭✭irishbarb


    Do noticulent clouds ripple around the sky really quickly? Whatever I saw was on and just about the horizon, very faint white, would be visible for a few seconds rippling around and then I wouldn't be able to see it for about 30 seconds to a minute before I'd catch it again. If I wasn't looking for it I wouldn't even notice it. I was actually wrong about the time too so I was told, it was more like half 10 and was pitch black. I watched for about 15 minutes.


  • #167
    dexter647
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,218 ✭✭✭dexter647


    You definitely seen a faint aurora in my opinion and not noctilucent clouds as it's to late in the season for them...I to experienced what you described about 15 years back on the way back from a gig in clonmel...Very faint white pulses in the sky that shimmered in and out, and if you were not looking for them it would have very easily gone unnoticed..Good spot:)


  • #168
    V_Moth
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,423 ✭✭✭V_Moth


    I would be a bit sceptical. At the moment the only likely place to see the Aurora would be Iceland (would need orange-red over IRL to see):

    SWPC_Aurora_Map_N.png


  • #169
    Meteorite58
    Moderators, Science, Health & Environment Moderators Posts: 12,072 Mod ✭✭✭✭Meteorite58


    Just wondering irishbarb if what you saw might have been the light from a lighthouse in the distance if you were looking towards the coast, would be interesting to plot your line of sight to see if there was a lighthouse on it. If there was it would have a sequence ( e.g. 1 long 3 short )that may correspond with the way you saw the light.

    Just another theory. :)


  • #170
    John.Icy
    Registered Users Posts: 2,015 ✭✭✭John.Icy


    Yeah you'd need to be in Norway to see something at KP2 people. The aurora oval was so weak till at least midnight or after, was checking up until I went to bed and nothing.

    I'd go with some floating high whispy cloud. I saw what people are describing and it even fooled my sister, she said they were dancing but when I really focused on them, there was little to no movement. Eyes can play tricks on us, especially in the dark. Also these white sheets we saw were directly overheard. You'd near a KP of 8/9 to see aurora activity overhead in Kildare.

    I'm not an expert but at KP of 2, it's surely impossible. If not, sure we'd be seeing auroras what, 15+ times a year?

    EDIT: just going by what I know here of seeing them. I'm sure if an expert could provide some insight it'd be great, but I'm in the no camp right now.


  • #171
    Joe Doe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 559 ✭✭✭Joe Doe


    Most likely it was just those very high whisky clouds, and the usual off-loading of chem-trails ;) from crossing airliners picking up a bit of moon light.

    There are however some pics up on bbcni from the other night here.
    Though take into consideration these are likely enthusiasts using pro/semi-pro's D3's and full-frame Canons on a sturdy tripod.
    Probably also to be fired off using cable release/infrared and the optimum combination time/aperature/iso setting to pull in all and any available colour.
    I can make a pitch black midnight forest pop up like a summer's day with the right settings, on-board system auto fix (pre-photoshop).


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  • #172
    Chris_5339762
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,963 ✭✭✭Chris_5339762


    .raw mode too on most of those pictures, which allows you to play around with exposure and dark/light areas plus colour a whole lot more.


  • #173
    fits
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,644 ✭✭✭✭fits


    There might be another chance tomorrow/Thursday, another CME headed this way apparently, but not expected to be as strong.


  • #174
    irishbarb
    Registered Users Posts: 130 ✭✭irishbarb


    fits wrote: »
    There might be another chance tomorrow/Thursday, another CME headed this way apparently, but not expected to be as strong.

    If it's as extremely clear of a night as the last night I'll go out and see if I can see what I saw again. I'm convinced I did, it was moving around way too fast and vast to be clouds.


  • #175
    fits
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,644 ✭✭✭✭fits


    irishbarb wrote: »
    If it's as extremely clear of a night as the last night I'll go out and see if I can see what I saw again. I'm convinced I did, it was moving around way too fast and vast to be clouds.

    Take long exposure photos if you want to be sure.


  • #176
    fits
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,644 ✭✭✭✭fits


    fits wrote: »
    Take long exposure photos if you want to be sure.

    by the way the lights don't move that fast. At their best they can shimmer like curtains and fade in and out.


  • #177
    thecretinhop
    Registered Users Posts: 6,666 ✭✭✭thecretinhop


    http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/sun-s-pending-magnetic-flip-has-physicists-on-edge-1.2418621

    very good article on it the sun changes magnetism every 13 years?!? WowI am hoping to see something...of to Canada next week, going to parts of British Columbia
    :eek:


  • #178
    Joe Doe
    Closed Accounts Posts: 559 ✭✭✭Joe Doe


    If you're landing in the VC area of BC, may need to mosey on up a bit, towards Alaska, as they're only a balmy 49.2500° N, even though it's still Candaka like.
    Hopefully Mr.Sun won't recreate that Revolution TV series, well until everyone has extracted the joy of playing around with ios8 on their new Iphone6Max's.


  • #179
    lolie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,381 ✭✭✭lolie


    fits wrote: »
    There might be another chance tomorrow/Thursday, another CME headed this way apparently, but not expected to be as strong.

    A cme from a filament eruption on Saturday. It's expected to be a weak enough hit but maybe it could suprise us.
    enlil_com2_20140913T1800_20140916T160000.jpg

    As for the aurora been seen in Clare Saturday night, with the KP of 2 max and the magnetic field pointed north it would make it impossible to see aurora in Ireland.


  • #180
    Rikand
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,421 ✭✭✭✭Rikand


    Joe Doe wrote: »
    If you're landing in the VC area of BC, may need to mosey on up a bit, towards Alaska, as they're only a balmy 49.2500° N, even though it's still Candaka like.
    Magnetic north pole drops their chances of seeing aurora at that latitude quite a bit though, doesnt it ?


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  • #181
    lolie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,381 ✭✭✭lolie


    Rikand wrote: »
    Magnetic north pole drops their chances of seeing aurora at that latitude quite a bit though, doesnt it ?

    Surely you mean it increases their chances of seeing it?


  • #182
    thecretinhop
    Registered Users Posts: 6,666 ✭✭✭thecretinhop


    Thanks for help guys going to jasper and Banff, might not be far enough but will have camera at the ready just in case!


  • #183
    Rikand
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,421 ✭✭✭✭Rikand


    lolie wrote: »
    Surely you mean it increases their chances of seeing it?

    yes I meant increases, lol.

    I was trying to write that it drops the the aurora down to lower latitudes but must have got mixed up half way through the post, lol :D


  • #184
    Elmer Blooker
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 6,184 ✭✭✭Elmer Blooker


    I saw the aurora at around 3am Saturday morning in Wexford despite all the cirrus and moonlight, I'm not making it up, why would I?
    I've seen aurorae lots of times and I knew exactly what I was looking for and I saw it directly overhead in a gap between the cirrus, it was white and fan shaped but I just knew by looking at it that it was much higher than cirrus. It could easily have been mistaken for cirrus but my experienced eye knew what it was. I know cirrus when I see it. Someone who was with me who isn't really interested in these sort of things described it as "stripes in the sky" when I pointed it out to them.
    I think most people make the mistake of looking for brilliant red and green colours when aurora watching but I know from experience its almost always white when I've witnessed it (Oct and Nov 2003 were exceptions)
    A lot more people would have seen it if it wasn't for the moon and cirrus.


  • #185
    fits
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 13,644 ✭✭✭✭fits


    It was at its peak around then though. It had waned completely by the time other poster saw it in Clare.


  • #186
    lolie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,381 ✭✭✭lolie


    Lovely aurora seen from northern sweden at the minute.
    Maybe we'll see it like this some night.
    latest.jpg


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  • #187
    RoisinD
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 411 ✭✭RoisinD


    irishbarb wrote: »
    If it's as extremely clear of a night as the last night I'll go out and see if I can see what I saw again. I'm convinced I did, it was moving around way too fast and vast to be clouds.
    Just catching up with this. Note that you are in Clare. What part? Near enough to North/North West? What you saw were whitish lights moving over and back across the sky? They were laser lights which are being used in Lisdoonvarna.


  • #188
    maquiladora
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,134 ✭✭✭✭maquiladora


    Sunspot group 2192 is massive, the largest since 1989. It's now earth-facing and capable of producing large X-flares.


  • #189
    Hal1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,720 ✭✭✭Hal1


    Yeah but no cme from either xflares. It is a monster though and hopefully will produce a strong earth facing cme.

    Huge pic here: https://maximusphotography.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/pete-20-oct-color.jpg


  • #190
    maquiladora
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,134 ✭✭✭✭maquiladora


    Hal1 wrote: »
    Yeah but no cme from either xflares. It is a monster though and hopefully will produce a strong earth facing cme.

    Huge pic here: https://maximusphotography.files.wordpress.com/2014/10/pete-20-oct-color.jpg

    As long as it's not too strong! We had a near miss in 2012...

    http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm/


  • #191
    Rikand
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 20,421 ✭✭✭✭Rikand


    maquiladora wrote: »
    As long as it's not too strong! We had a near miss in 2012...

    http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2014/23jul_superstorm/

    Yeah.... let's not have one of those....

    Dont think I could survive without boards.ie for an extended period of time


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  • #192
    Popoutman
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 1,363 ✭✭✭Popoutman


    It's a beautiful sunspot. I got to see a few of the M-class flares with my h-alpha PST solar scope in the past few days, thanks to timely emails from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology flare alert email list. I missed the X-class yesterday though, it did look very nice - 20141022144354Zh.jpg
    That image will probably be archived off by December, they keep about 30 days of images in the public archive.

    Very handy free service. Very pretty flares!


  • #193
    maquiladora
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,134 ✭✭✭✭maquiladora


    Directly facing earth now. 45% chance of an X-class flare forecast today.

    hOLem2o.jpg


  • #194
    Hal1
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 8,720 ✭✭✭Hal1


    Another shot here showing the partial eclipse visible over north america.
    http://www.solarham.net/archive/cottrell_oct23_2014.jpg


  • #195
    maquiladora
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,134 ✭✭✭✭maquiladora


    X2.5 flare just happened. If a CME was produced it will probably be earth-directed.

    Edit : X3.1. Sixth largest flare of this solar cycle.

    ffu0fkH.jpg


  • #196
    maquiladora
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,134 ✭✭✭✭maquiladora


    2014-10-24 21:41 UTC R3 (Strong) Radio Blackout in progress

    We said it remained a threat and here it is, producing another R3 (Strong) Radio Blackout that at the time of this posting, is still on the climb. The event began at 5:07pm EDT (2107 UTC) and is still going strong over 30 minutes later. The main communications impacts from this event are over the Pacific Ocean. In the meantime, forecasters remain vigilant to see if there is an associated coronal mass ejection. As we learn more about this event we will update this space.

    x3.1c.jpg


  • #197
    The One Doctor
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,339 ✭✭✭The One Doctor


    Well, that's humanity back to the dark ages.


  • #198
    maquiladora
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,134 ✭✭✭✭maquiladora


    It looks like no CME was produced, so no aurora. wallbash.gif


  • #199
    mountainy man
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 985 ✭✭✭mountainy man


    Ah poo!


  • #200
    lolie
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 2,381 ✭✭✭lolie


    We just can't catch a break, what's the bets when it turns away from earth there'll be plenty of cme's from it.

    Another X flare ongoing at the minute.
    http://www.solarham.net/xray.htm


  • #201
    maquiladora
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 11,134 ✭✭✭✭maquiladora


    lolie wrote: »
    We just can't catch a break, what's the bets when it turns away from earth there'll be plenty of cme's from it.

    Another X flare ongoing at the minute.
    http://www.solarham.net/xray.htm

    No CME from that flare either. Despite the huge size of the active region the flares coming from it don't seem to be very eruptive.


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