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Buzzygirl
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Posts: 499
Location: Little Canada
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 Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 7:16 pm Post subject: NORTHERN LIGHTS! (Sunday 11-7-04, 7:00 pm CST) |
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| About 1/2 hour ago, I went outside to take out the garbage and happened to look to the north- WOW!!! There is a SERIOUSLY bright display of aurora going on right now. It is very rare to see them from where I am (Little Canada, just north of downtown St. Paul) yet they are just beautiful. Lots of sheets of green and blue all over... to the north, east and overhead! |
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Joelcam
Geocacher
Joined: 03 Oct 2003
Posts: 48
Location: Roseville, MN
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| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 10:08 pm Post subject: |
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| I was down in Belle Plain visiting my brother when we spotted them through the windows with the lights on in the house. Very bright! I was able to snap a few photos which turned out ok. I'll see if I can get them on TV in the morning on channel 4 during weather. |
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KC0GRN
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 1424
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| Posted: Sun Nov 07, 2004 11:48 pm Post subject: |
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Darn, think I read this too late. I took a peek outside now, very clear skies, but couldn't see any northern lights.
Figures, I try to look for em after every solar flare but always get nothing, the one night I didn't bother looking.. Oh well, I expect my camera wouldn'tve captured em anyways, considering it pretty much hates dark shots. |
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Marsha and Silent Bob
Past MnGCA President
Joined: 02 Sep 2003
Posts: 6261
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 8:49 am Post subject: |
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| KC0GRN wrote: |
Darn, think I read this too late. I took a peek outside now, very clear skies, but couldn't see any northern lights.
Figures, I try to look for em after every solar flare but always get nothing, the one night I didn't bother looking.. Oh well, I expect my camera wouldn'tve captured em anyways, considering it pretty much hates dark shots. |
Tonight is your best bet to see them anyway:
| Quote: |
From: SpaceWeather.com <swlist@spaceweather.com>
To: SpaceWeather.com <swlist@spaceweather.com>
Subject: Solar activity intensifies, aurora watch extended to Nov. 9th
Date: Sun, 7 Nov 2004 17:47:42 -0600
Space Weather News for Nov. 7, 2004
http://spaceweather.com
Big sunspot 696 unleashed an X-class solar flare on Sunday, Nov. 7th, and
probably hurled another coronal mass ejection (CME) toward Earth.
Solar wind conditions are favorable for a geomagnetic storm now (late Nov. 7th) and may become even more so when the CME arrives.
Sky watchers: be alert for auroras on Nov. 7th, 8th and 9th. The best time to look is usually around local midnight.
Visit http://spaceweather.com for more information and updates |
_________________
Sad state of affairs. |
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KC0GRN
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 22 Feb 2004
Posts: 1424
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 11:54 am Post subject: |
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I'll try and give it a shot. Yeah I check spaceweather.com a lot, in fact I get email update from them.
If only my stinkin digital would pick them up, I've never gotten the chance to try, but I'll try and set up a tripod on the porch (seems to help when it's perfectly still) |
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sui generis
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 17 Apr 2004
Posts: 608
Location: Eagan, MN
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 12:21 pm Post subject: |
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| If only my stinkin digital would pick them up |
With better cameras, you can often increase the amount of time the CCD is exposed, thus making for better night photography. To do so, you will definitely need that tripod to keep the camera still during the increased exposure time. Also, post upload processing can be used to bring a dark picture out better. Kind of like "burning".
_________________
I am amazed by how many people harp on the need to speak and write English in this country while exhibiting a fundamental lack of skills in the areas of spelling and sentence composition. Would this be irony, hypocrisy, or both? |
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Kitch
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 18 May 2003
Posts: 1286
Location: SSP,MN
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 4:09 pm Post subject: |
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why does it seem like as a kid the "lights" where out all the time??
Along the same lines....what ever happened to the "lighting bugs"? I swear you don't see fields of these like I did as a kid.
Same thing with winter snow fall totals???
oh well....enjoy it tonight while you can. |
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Buzzygirl
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Posts: 499
Location: Little Canada
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Kitch wrote: |
why does it seem like as a kid the "lights" where out all the time?? Along the same lines....what ever happened to the "lighting bugs"? I swear you don't see fields of these like I did as a kid.
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I never recall seeing the Northern Lights as a kid, at least where I grew up, which is about 6 miles south of where I live now. They are hard to see here with all the light pollution. There was definitely less light pollution around way back in the 70's when I was a little kid, but then again I lived near downtown St. Paul, so dark skies were never a given when I was growing up.
I have not seen such bright Northern Lights in the city as last night, although I do recall seeing almost as nice a display two years ago, from my backyard in Arden Hills (where I was living at the time).
Ah, I love fireflies! I actually wrote a poem about them a few years ago that won a monetary award, believe it or not (I find fireflies very inspiring, creatively speaking). I still see them all the time; seems that I notice them more now than when I was a kid. They are thick in the early summer in rural areas in particular.
Oh, and winter snowfall totals... definitely less now than when I was a kid. |
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Arcticabn
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 30 Nov 2003
Posts: 1846
Location: Lakeville, MN
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 6:53 pm Post subject: |
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You have a lesser chance of seeing them if you live on the South side of town. From my understanding they were pretty low on the horizon from the North side last night. The glow of the city may prevent them from being seen.
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Airborne All the Way! |
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Pear Head
Past MnGCA President
Joined: 04 Apr 2004
Posts: 5594
Location: north of Duluth
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| I saw them last night while out in the woods (bring in a deer) at around 6pm north of Duluth. It was probably the 2nd most spectacular display I've ever seen. The southern horizon was a very even shade of deep red which is rare in northern lights. The northern horizon was very bright and peak directly above our heads. They were bright enough to be able to see the woods with no flashlight. |
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s4xton
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 23 Mar 2003
Posts: 1070
Location: Minneapolis, MN
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| Posted: Mon Nov 08, 2004 10:31 pm Post subject: |
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I saw it from a plane coming home from New York. Despite being on the wrong side of the plane, I still got to see it - beautiful.
-Aaron |
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Buzzygirl
Past MnGCA Board
Joined: 06 Apr 2004
Posts: 499
Location: Little Canada
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proton
Geocacher
Joined: 28 Jul 2004
Posts: 33
Location: Embarrass, Minnesota
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| Posted: Thu Nov 11, 2004 11:19 pm Post subject: |
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They have been really great up in Embarrass. One more picture from Canada that was posted on the "Asrtonomy Picture of the Day" at
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap041109.html
Enjoy!!! |
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