Aurora Borealis pictures from the Northern USA!

zigs

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Nice one Terri :)
 
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Nice one Terri :)
T hank you!

I have always wanted to see the Aurora Borealis, but I live too far south. The one and only time they showed their lovely faces I had spent the evening inside, and so I never saw it and it was right overhead! That must have been 30 years ago and the internet was either not common or not available, I had no idea that there had been a large solar flare with a light show!.

I absolutely love the internet: I might not have seen the Aurora Borealis but I have "seen" it on the computer screen. It seems so improbable that charged particles could light up the sky like this!
 

zigs

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My Dad saw them when he was a kid, living south of London, You're a long way down to see them from there though. Maybe we'll all get a look when the Earths pole flips :D

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/2012-poleReversal.html

I keep an eye on this site, so I know if its a good time to switch the computer off,

http://www.solarham.net/

They got a facebook chat page too, first place I look when the newspapers are predicting the end of civilisation :D
 
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It would be nice to travel to see the aurora borealis in person. From what I understand though, it's hard to plan to see it because no one knows precisely when and where it will be possible to do so. You kind of just have to be lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time.
 
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That's incredibly beautiful! I've heard it's really difficult to take good photos / films of the northern lights, so kudos to the filmmaker for capturing the magic (y)

Two of our friends are off to Iceland for a long weekend soon, and they are really hoping they see the Aurora Borealis! Apparently the hotel offers a service where someone will knock on your door in the middle of the night and let you know if it's visible!!
 
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If you get out of town(away from city lights) on a high spot you can see the northern lights most clear nights during the summer at my latitude. Sometimes they are much more colorful than at other times. They always well to the north of us.

That was a great video seeing the lights right over the photographer. I think having them over head would make me nervous. I heard once that they are not considered very good luck by some native tribes. Think they might have a bit of electricity in them and towards the poles sometimes touch down.

Still very beautiful
 
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It's magical! I think that it's even more gorgeous than rainbows, which I love. It looks like the sky was blooming:love: I would love to see it in person, it would be so great. I wish it was possible to see Aurora Borealis from my place:) I would gladly stay up all night to see it.
 
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I'm going to have to look into where the nearest spot is to me that they can be viewed and add it to my destination list. It would be nice to see the lights, and nicer still to successfully photograph them. I wonder how far north I would actually have to go...
 
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I grew up in southeast Michigan and never saw the northern lights but always wanted to. Thanks for telling me all I would have had to do was go the the UP (upper peninsula). That is just another reason to go back and explore the entire state. Thank you so much for sharing this!
 
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I think that in the continental USA they only come out on special occasions, like after a major solar flare or whatever.

I can imagine the sun on one end, the Northern Lights on the other, and a bridge of energy in between. At least I THINK that is what happens: I am guessing BIG time!
 

zigs

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Not far off, the Sun spews out loads of charged particles and they're caught by our magnetic field, cascading in at the poles.
 
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Not far off, the Sun spews out loads of charged particles and they're caught by our magnetic field, cascading in at the poles.
Is it the magatism of the two poles that draws in the charged particles? isn't one pole positive and one pole negative? Would BOTH poles attract the charged particles?

I am afraid I am weak on science that I cannot see. I am OK with soil fertility because I can see the effect on the plants, but I cannot see the worlds magnatism. Mind, I have put a magnetic charge on a needle by rubbing it, but charged particles are a little harder to understand, at least for me!
 

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It's the ions coming from the sun that interact with oxygen and nitrogen in our atmosphere, causing them to regain an electron or "excite" them.

It happens at both poles.

It's the excitement that gives off the light, usually green, red takes longer.
 
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I see: it is the ions that are changing and and then they are attracted to the poles, and not the other way around.
 

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