Northern lights possible Sept 6 and 7...

[frozentripper]

Might be worth a look although in the past predictions haven't been been all that reliable. Mostly cloudy skies forecast for S Ontario.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/northern-lights-aurora-sept-6-1.4275802


NOAA's aurora prediction map is probably worth keeping an eye on... right now the auroral band doesn't extend very far south and color hasn't changed to the more intense yellow or red but might improve when some of the sun's corona mass ejection reaches the earth tonight. IIRC UT is fours hours ahead of EST.

http://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/animations/ovation-north/latest.jpg

 

[Mihun09]

I did not see in the article for a best time for viewing. Being in NW Ontario at the moment we may have a good view.

Karin

 

[frozentripper]

Full moon is tonight Sept 6 so earlier might be a better time if bright moonlight washes out the NL once the moon is high overhead... moonrise will be later tomorrow (twenty minutes later?), so a darker night earlier on if the NL are going at that time.

IIRC the best NL displays I've seen were on dark, moonless nights... still if the auroral band on the NOAA map is large and going bright red, still might be something to see, moon or no moon.

 

[Odyssey]

Thanks frozentripper. I'm hoping to enjoy a bright 3rd quarter moon next week and some aurora skies on a planned trip.

 

[yellowcanoe]

Maybe. Badlands SD. Moonrise though is 20 minutes after sunset and it's a full moon.
Badlands is a dark sky park

 

[Steve in Idaho]

I doubt if we will be seeing it through all this smoke.

 

[yellowcanoe]

I doubt if we will be seeing it through all this smoke.

Yup. We had smoke except for Yukon and Alaska since July 11
Bad in Idaho. Worst in southern BC
I hope the ash comes off the truck and trailer

 

[frozentripper]

A little more info that might indicate something unusual is happening... solar flares occurred this morning, said to be the strongest in twelve years and these may also result in a large coronal mass ejection to hit the earth late tonight. NOAA has rated this as a "strong" geomagnetic storm with auroras that may be visible as far south as Ohio, Indiana and Lake Erie.


https://www.space.com/38057-sun-unle...lar-flare.html



See the yellow line on the black map for the most likely southern extent of visibility.

https://www.space.com/38050-solar-st...ts-sept-6.html

 

[Mihun09]

Not for us tonight, rain coming in from the NW. Maybe tomorrow night.

All the rain we have had lately, like 6" on Friday night will help with all the fires.

 

[Odyssey]

The sky was overcast last night when I went to bed around 10pm. I and the dog both got up to answer the call of nature 3:27am. I stood on the back porch drinking in the night air while she ambled around the yard, both of us under bright stars in a clear deep sky and full moon...but alas no Northern Lights.

 

[Mihun09]

Just came in from shooting about a dozen photos of the aurora borealis. Mostly greens but the camera picked up purples too. Started just after 9 but the moon is coming up now. You may need to wait for photos until I get home on Sunday, we are up in Ear Falls at the moment.

Karin

 

[frozentripper]

Well, nothing visible here, although clouds, haze and moonlight might have been obscuring any NL.... news reports say that they were visible last night further south than usual in Scotland and England.

Looking forward to the photos.... the long range weather forecasts for S Ontario say that clear skies should be present for the next 10 days or so, and with the moonrises getting later and later each night, maybe there'll be something.

 

[Steve in Idaho]

We've had about half-mile visibility around here the last few days because of the smoke. Can't even tell where the sun is half the time. Oh well - I'm south of that yellow line anyway.

 

[Mihun09]

Here are a few that I captured last week.

 

[frozentripper]

Very nice! I haven't seen decent northern lights in a long time, need to drive further north.

 

[Mihun09]

Shot with a Nikon D3100, 18-55mm lens, 20 second exposure.

Once I figure out how to use my GoPro at night, that could be cool to have video of the Northern Lights.