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Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

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Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#291

Post by schoen »

docapotamus wrote: post #53
matsemann wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, it's often easy to make it look much better on camera than what it did in real life. Something to keep in mind if one feel one missed out, heh. Also, timelapses of long exposures can give a wrong impression of how it moves. But has for a long time been the only way to actually see a video of it. It's often not that slow and wavy in real life. It's more like watching an orchestra play, where suddenly someone pla…

Agree. Was surprised how well the phone pulled the colour out. Can’t find my DSLR unfortunately otherwise it’d be on the tripod. Had to wake the 6 year old for him to see this, once in a life time type of thing

If I understand correctly, I think there's a decent chance to have something similar at any given solar maximum (about every 11 years)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_maximum

But it's definitely not a sure thing, and this could very well be the biggest one for decades to come.

Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#292

Post by jayknight »

divbzero wrote: post #288

The sky has been lighting up in North America too. I’ve heard reports of the aurora from New England and, here in the Pacific Northwest, it’s currently visible by naked eye and striking in long exposure shots. I always thought I would have to visit Alaska or Scandinavia to see the northern lights, never thought I could catch a glimpse so close to home.

It was visible to the naked eye in the city lights here around Memphis, TN. I've seen pictures from the gulf coast. That was so crazy!

Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#294

Post by solarwindy »

dylan604 wrote: post #187
lambdasquirrel wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Makes sense.. all the serious astronomy apps are in black and red, and back before we had phones, we used to use red flashlights if we needed to consult our charts.

just like all of the 80s military action films with red filtered flashlights or CNC rooms on ships. sometimes, meme like content isn't just made up. as an amateur (at best) astro type person, you learn very quickly how true how quickly a brief flash of white light can ruin your night vision. walking around during the day without sun glasses can also extend the amount of time it takes your eyes to acclimate to the dar…

Last night in particular, hiking through the forest there was no need for a flashlight at all.

Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#295

Post by inamorty »

heavenlyblue wrote: post #283
inamorty wrote: post #267

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You could read a newspaper from the light in the middle of the night during the Carrington event, so not comparable at all.

Citation needed

Sure thing: https://ntrs.nasa.gov/api/citations/20050210157/downloads/20...

Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#296

Post by fch42 »

teekert wrote: post #245
sagischwarz wrote: post #215

Here are some phone pics from my home village in Germany: https://www.nowhereinparticular.xyz/polarlichter.html This was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. My brother, who is a hobby astronomer, called me and sent me outside. Initially, I saw only a faint red glow in the northeast of the sky, but after a few minutes, my eyes adapted and I could see how it slowly moved and changed its form over time. I stayed outside fo…

In southern Netherlands at the coast, with a 10 sec exposure, iPhone 12 mini, main cam, I was able to see some pink and green with streaks. To my eyes it was like faint clouds that changed to quickly to be clouds, better visible when I didn’t look straight at them. Your pics are something else, but what was it like to your eyes?

From Bournemouth in the UK, I got the same impression as you - looking like cloud sheets, but more straight lines than, say, what windblown contrails look like. No clear color visible to me but the location wasn't anywhere near "dark".

I've seen impressive (and colorful) aurora before, and can well imagine it might've looked splendid in (darker) places. Don't give up ... maybe more on the way.

Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#297

Post by ricardo81 »

Ladsko wrote: post #277
ricardo81 wrote: post #232

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I also missed it. Meant to be happening again tonight though.

Tonight at which location? Europe? I might go for a impromptu camping trip!

Apparently much of the Northern Hemisphere, going by how many photos I've seen across the world from last night.

Here in the UK the skies should be clear.

Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#298

Post by fch42 »

deadbabe wrote: post #191
chgs wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Doesn’t look like that in reality. If I take a photo on my phone here in the UK midlands I get pink and green in all directions with a 3 second exposure. However with just the naked eye it’s like super high level clouds

Ok why is it that some people say northern lights look EXACTLY like these spectacular photos, and others say in real life they are actually barely visible and you need a camera and very dark skies? Is there some kind of running joke I’m missing? I saw some northern lights in Iceland but they were very dim and underwhelming, I didn’t even know what I was looking at until I photographed them and saw the vivid green str…

I've seen both impressive (colorful, bright, straight overhead and fast movement) as well as barely noticeable (colorless bands/sheets that "look like faint clouds but somehow odd". With the "odd" mostly meaning that they move different from clouds; not preferentially in wind (or any) direction, and often just around our eye's threshold. It also, sometimes, looks like a band of light pollution low along the northern horizon, when the green main aurora oval is "just" visible.

Few-seconds exposures on a digital camera bring the colors out that you may or may not see by eye if the aurora is weak.

Also, especially mid-latitudes, sometimes an Aurora display has moments of higher brightness with color, and then again "grey curtains".

The most impressive thing about stronger Aurora, to me, is the "fine structure", the fact you may have it well overhead (not just on the northern horizon) and the fast movements. It can look like "beads" running up and down the curtains, or "lances" being thrown from the sky, and line/streak structures are very sharply outlined, not like the soft blur in multi-second pictures. And the curtains can "wave" across the entire sky in a second then.

But I haven't seen enough Aurora to dare predict anything ... I cross my fingers.

Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#299

Post by fch42 »

Geee wrote: post #196
deadbabe wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok why is it that some people say northern lights look EXACTLY like these spectacular photos, and others say in real life they are actually barely visible and you need a camera and very dark skies? Is there some kind of running joke I’m missing? I saw some northern lights in Iceland but they were very dim and underwhelming, I didn’t even know what I was looking at until I photographed them and saw the vivid green str…

Yeah, typically northern lights look like faint white clouds with a little bit of green tint to naked eye. The photos are like those time-exposure photos of the milky way, which is not what the eye sees.

If you ever have the chance to see the Milky way from Namibia, the Andes, the Western Australian desert, you may revise your view there. The dust clouds and star streams extend far out and make it appear like "standing on the bridge of as starship". It looks very 3D. Still not colorful, but immersive and so much detail.

Alas, in the northern hemisphere, we've been pretty good eradicating nighttime darkness (and a lot else besides ...).

Re: Most of Europe is glowing pink under the aurora

#300

Post by 3np »

irthomasthomas wrote: post #266
grafelic wrote: post #101

I feel I need to report my experience from Denmark, Jutland. It started with white broad streaks, which most of all looked like fog, but then perhaps after 10 minutes or so, we saw colors of red, purple and green begin to emerge from the these streaks. Most astoundingly it all seemed to emanate from a fluctuating point in the middle of the sky. If you looked closely at this point you could see it fall into itself, mo…

I was out flying a camera drone on the river Dee between Liverpool and North Wales filming the sunset, when I started getting magnetic interference warnings. At the same time, I started to see flashes in the sky. Then my vision was filled with sparkling lights. A few minutes later I got an aurora warning from my brother and the aurora app. KP 8-9 As the sun went down I was waking through a woodland. I thought the dar…

> and edit this comment.

You have like 30min to edit and there's a timeout for replies too so maybe put the link in your profile if it gets later <3

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