View Full Version : Northern Light show tonight, 3 Aug 2010?



tat
08-03-2010, 07:29 PM
http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Statewide/Northern-lights-may-be-visible-in-Maine,150314

Ekidokai
08-03-2010, 10:08 PM
Thanks for posting that Tat. I have been trying to post this for two weeks but never seemed to remember.

The lights are flaring but a bit muted so far.

firefighterjake
08-04-2010, 07:33 AM
The thunder and lightning storm all night long provided quite a show.

As for the Northern Lights . . . saw them in Alaska . . . very pretty.

ribnag
08-05-2010, 06:26 PM
Just an update, the second of two CMEs didn't hit the Earth yet, and we have a great chance of low-latitude aurora again tonight (August 5th) or tomorrow pre-dawn.

Watches the sky get progressively cloudier...

JustKev
08-05-2010, 06:54 PM
Just an update, the second of two CMEs didn't hit the Earth yet, and we have a great chance of low-latitude aurora again tonight (August 5th) or tomorrow pre-dawn.

Watches the sky get progressively cloudier...

Educate the uneducated. What's a CME?

Mainiac1957
08-05-2010, 07:00 PM
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&cd=3&ved=0CDYQFjAC&url=http%3A%2F%2Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FCoronal _mass_ejection&ei=bEJbTI-3MsH88AaDqNSDAg&usg=AFQjCNHbWSB5CFRWkbokZVbX7xiIAJAl7Q&sig2=n9spO2H0MkpAwQtLybvrZg

ribnag
08-05-2010, 07:06 PM
Sorry... Coronal Mass Ejection.

To plagiarize from SpaceWeather.com (an excellent site for astronomy buffs), "On August 1st, the entire Earth-facing side of the sun erupted in a tumult of activity. There was a C3-class solar flare, a solar tsunami, multiple filaments of magnetism lifting off the stellar surface, large-scale shaking of the solar corona, radio bursts, a coronal mass ejection and more."

Basically, the sun sloughed off a good chunk of its Earth-facing side a few days ago, and that leads to a deflection of our planet's magnetic field such that charged particles hit the atmosphere at much lower latitudes than normal. Effect, we get aurora (and satellite operators suffer miserably trying to keep their birds from cooking while still providing some basic level of service).

Ekidokai
08-05-2010, 11:35 PM
You and Cano can't play together anymore.

tat
08-06-2010, 05:11 AM
I looked a few times last night but saw only clear skies and stars.

JustKev
08-06-2010, 06:17 PM
I only saw the insides of my eyelids. There were no light leaks.