bill_proud Posted October 24, 2003 Share Posted October 24, 2003 As a result of a geomagnetic solar storm, the experts are predicting some aurora borealis activity well south into the U.S. tonight around 11:00 P.M. local time. Since this is also the new moon, one might be able to catch some flare activity doing a star trail photograph tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nathan_cohen Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 Hi Bill-- Don't know if anything showed up aurora-wise. The best aurora shots I've done were seconds/minutes long, with minimum star trails. If they are longer, the sky brightness fogs the shot. Of course if you have very dark skies, this is not a problem. The surface brightness of aurora is low, and thus they often look grey-ish to us (naked eye). On the other extreme, they often change structure in minutes, so much of the detail will be washed out with longer exposures. Fast film at 1 minute exposures is a good rule of thumb. Wide angle. But I suspect you know this all well. Info for others. BTW, the best aurora I ever saw was at 30,000 feet in a jet, many years ago. Green and blue curtains in front of a star-strewn sky. Even an astronomer was moved! But the pilot was not: when I pointed it out and suggest he get on the com to tell everyone, he thought passengers would prefer to sleep. There's a metaphor for you:-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imaginator Posted October 26, 2003 Share Posted October 26, 2003 "local time"? East or west US? I'm in California so would that be 8 PM here? There has been much activity recently, but most during the daytime (here) or in Southern hemishere... that's how it goes with auroras. SOHO predicts "minor" event, but who knows (I'll be looking North just in case)(South for you down under) The solar flares actually occur hours before the aurora activity (takes time to travel to Earth) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bacsa Posted October 27, 2003 Share Posted October 27, 2003 Damn I'm late again! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bill_proud Posted October 27, 2003 Author Share Posted October 27, 2003 Nathan, and others, Thanks for the info. I've never seen an aurora but was hoping. Unfortunately, I saw nothing. I did have fun shooting star trails but no auroras. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arthuryeo Posted October 30, 2003 Share Posted October 30, 2003 Same here ... saw nothing except stars ... :-( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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