Northern Lights

[johnjk]

Pretty good show early this morning. The boss took these since I was snoozing for a 4:30 wake up. Supposed to be visible tonight as well. May stay up to check it out in person

 

[Mountainman]

Beautiful. Wish we could see that down here.

 

[jimh406]

Last night.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Yea it kicked it in top gear last night!

 

[L35]

Hopefully the clouds clear out here tonight as they may return, it was poppin off last night but I didn’t know about it

 

[FTG-05]

Beautiful. Wish we could see that down here.

10 miles north of the AL/TN border a couple nights ago:

 

[jyoutz]

Beautiful. Wish we could see that down here.

We could see them in New Mexico. It seems like these are visible farther south than normal.

 

[Blue2Orange]

We had rain on Tuesday night. The Kp-index was supposedly +8. Last night was nice, but only faint greens visible with naked eye. Right now Kp-index is 3. Forgot to check last night. Howling wind through the trees was a nice "sound effect", but made +5C/41F a bit chilly. Live in a Bortle 3 area. With the Moon rise after 0100 and what would have been a very transparent sky. Huge contrast with the nice dark sky and sharp bright stars being veiled by the ghostly Northern Lights.

Set up the H-alpha solar scope this AM before the warming air and winds reduced quality of view. Lots of small solar flares and few sunspots, but nothing dramatic. There is an app called SpaceWeatherLive for those interested in solar observation and Northern Lights.

Always wondered if naked eye observation of Northern Lights would be enhanced by a pair of constellation binoculars? Wide field relative to binoculars. Objective size more or less determines field of view. 2x magnification seems to be the sweet spot. Enhances the brightness of object by 1.5 magnitudes. Designed obviously not to magnify the objects. Just increase the number of objects visible with the "naked" eye. On the wish list of toys. Orion use to market a 2 x 54mm, but they suddenly went out of business. Sky Rover looks to have reintroduced the bino. But no inventory in the USA available.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

We had rain on Tuesday night. The Kp-index was supposedly +8. Last night was nice, but only faint greens visible with naked eye. Right now Kp-index is 3. Forgot to check last night. Howling wind through the trees was a nice "sound effect", but made +5C/41F a bit chilly. Live in a Bortle 3 area. With the Moon rise after 0100 and what would have been a very transparent sky. Huge contrast with the nice dark sky and sharp bright stars being veiled by the ghostly Northern Lights.

Set up the H-alpha solar scope this AM before the warming air and winds reduced quality of view. Lots of small solar flares and few sunspots, but nothing dramatic. There is an app called SpaceWeatherLive for those interested in solar observation and Northern Lights.

Always wondered if naked eye observation of Northern Lights would be enhanced by a pair of constellation binoculars? Wide field relative to binoculars. Objective size more or less determines field of view. 2x magnification seems to be the sweet spot. Enhances the brightness of object by 1.5 magnitudes. Designed obviously not to magnify the objects. Just increase the number of objects visible with the "naked" eye. On the wish list of toys. Orion use to market a 2 x 54mm, but they suddenly went out of business. Sky Rover looks to have reintroduced the bino. But no inventory in the USA available.

Just use a good digital camera and the colors will pop!

 

[skeets]

Was too over cast here I guess,, nada,,,, One day I will see them

 

[Blue2Orange]

Prefer naked eye more immersive experience when it comes to observing the Northern Lights. One of the benefits of naked eye observation are the wider field of view and experiencing the dynamic motion of the lights. Decades ago after a show at the local in/outdoor concert venue leaving the tent we noticed the Lights. Just white, but pulsating as much as flowing, drifting across the night sky. We just hiked up a ski run to get away from the parking lot traffic light and laid down observing the Lights. Better show than the show we just attended.

Maybe, probably why I never got into astrophotography. It's that moment of "wow". Add the cost and technical skill needed to properly capture and process the digital data. SeeStar S50 is an option for simple astro capture that anyone can master. But I already have spent too much time processing digital images as it is.

Do have a some quality micro 4/3 format digital hardware and higher end tripods and heads. Still using Aperature with NIK plug-in. I guess I'm a bit "old school". Sort of miss the 35mm film days.

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Prefer naked eye more immersive experience when it comes to observing the Northern Lights. One of the benefits of naked eye observation are the wider field of view and experiencing the dynamic motion of the lights. Decades ago after a show at the local in/outdoor concert venue leaving the tent we noticed the Lights. Just white, but pulsating as much as flowing, drifting across the night sky. We just hiked up a ski run to get away from the parking lot traffic light and laid down observing the Lights. Better show than the show we just attended.

Maybe, probably why I never got into astrophotography. It's that moment of "wow". Add the cost and technical skill needed to properly capture and process the digital data. SeeStar S50 is an option for simple astro capture that anyone can master. But I already have spent too much time processing digital images as it is.

Do have a some quality micro 4/3 format digital hardware and higher end tripods and heads. Still using Aperature with NIK plug-in. I guess I'm a bit "old school". Sort of miss the 35mm film days.

A good cell phone camera works perfectly fine.
No need for expensive equipment or training needed.

 

[mcfarmall]

Kalamazoo MI