Natural phenomenon you have witnessed?

[Howardh]

Does the South Pole have the same lights? Can't see why not as it's the same thing, just that fewer people would see them with the nearest inhabited areas being a lot further from the South Pole than in northern Europe? In effect, the closest urban area from the SP is the equivalent of Carlisle from the North Pole!!

 

[swt_passenger]

Does the South Pole have the same lights? Can't see why not as it's the same thing, just that fewer people would see them with the nearest inhabited areas being a lot further from the South Pole than in northern Europe? In effect, the closest urban area from the SP is the equivalent of Carlisle from the North Pole!!

Yes, they refer to them as “Aurora Australis“ and they have been reported on at the same time, eg here:

Skies around the world have shone with extraordinary colours overnight due to a rare solar weather event.
The aurora borealis and australis — the northern and southern lights — stunned those who ventured outside to take in the views, and provided amateur photographers with the opportunity to take some truly spectacular pictures.
A geomagnetic storm of a strength not seen for two decades was behind the phenomena.
Here is a selection of some of the most stunning displays.

In pictures: Stunning auroras seen around world as geomagnetic storm hits Earth

The aurora borealis and australis — the northern and southern lights — are captured by photographers around the world as a rare solar weather event colours the skies in magical hues.

www.abc.net.au

(The article mostly includes photos taken in Australia, but also a selection from northern countries.)

 

[Howardh]

Yes, they refer to them as “Aurora Australis“ and they have been reported on at the same time, eg here:

In pictures: Stunning auroras seen around world as geomagnetic storm hits Earth

The aurora borealis and australis — the northern and southern lights — are captured by photographers around the world as a rare solar weather event colours the skies in magical hues.

www.abc.net.au

Great stuff!! Hoping for a bit of a show tonight too!

 

[PeterC]

Great stuff!! Hoping for a bit of a show tonight too!

I hope so, I made the mistake of having a break from social media last night combined with missing the TV news and weather forecast. First I knew was when I checked Twitter this morning.

 

[McRhu]

That very much depends on the intensity of the event - the more powerful it is, the further south the 'active' part of the sky is. So, yes, typically in the UK the aurora is visible somewhere to the north, but with a particularly strong event it can be overhead, and that's more likely the further north you are. Even in Cambridge it was reaching up near to the zenith last night. Good luck for tonight!

Thank you. I trust that even now the powers that be are stoking the sun right up with anthracite fit to burst, ready for tonight's illuminations.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

From Epsom last night; pictures from my kids and the neighbours. Mine are all still in the camera - although you can see one in the form of a photo of the back of the camera...

 

[nlogax]

Fantastic shots @Peter Mugridge !

Went to the same viewing spot tonight, and nothing visible. I think we've collectively ridden this one solar event all the way to the end of the line.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

Yes, in the past hour the arc has dropped away to almost nothing.

 

[PeterC]

Yes, in the past hour the arc has dropped away to almost nothing.

I checked the app on my phone and gave up at that point without having seen anything during the evening. This morning I saw a string of alerts for much higher geomagnetic activity during the early hours. I don't know if it produced anything visible thus far south.

 

[Peter Mugridge]

I checked the app on my phone and gave up at that point without having seen anything during the evening. This morning I saw a string of alerts for much higher geomagnetic activity during the early hours. I don't know if it produced anything visible thus far south.

At that sort of time it would have been the USA which benefitted, unfortunately.

 

[Ediswan]

A question for those who took photos of the aurora. How close do the colours in the images look to what you recall seeing ?

Cameras and screens don't work quite the same way human eyes do. Mostly the technology works very well, but not always. The gaudy orange/pink colours on air ambulaces can come out a long way off.

 

[Sun Chariot]

A question for those who took photos of the aurora. How close do the colours in the images look to what you recall seeing?

The colours the camera sensor captured were "more intense / saturated" but the photo I'd posted on this thread, matches the colour hues my wife and I made out by naked eye.
The effect we saw Friday, started as long pale strips - think of unrolled toilet paper! - across the sky; then, within a couple of minutes, the faint colours appeared as well.

 

[AM9]

A question for those who took photos of the aurora. How close do the colours in the images look to what you recall seeing ?

Cameras and screens don't work quite the same way human eyes do. Mostly the technology works very well, but not always. The gaudy orange/pink colours on air ambulaces can come out a long way off.

Having taken images of auroras before using conventional DSLRs, I was aware of the difference in the colours seen vs those that the camera shows. In effect, the human eye has a lower sensitivity to colour than to luminance, and within the colour ranges, it is green that the eye senses first. Thus, given that auroras are by human vision standards, not very bright, when they are visible it is the green light that is most prevalent. A camera though resolves all colours and given enough light, the colours will rise above the noise level of the system. Both in Norway and Iceland, I have taken pictures that show red, violet and yellow which I did't see with my own eyes.
Interestingly, I used a mobile (Moto G8plus - a fairly mid-range model from about 3-4 years ago) and it's process was quite interesting to watch. On Night Vision, it first took a fairly short shot - say 1/4 of a second and the image was with colour but very noisy. It then took several more, each one separated by image shuffles to line up with the previouis one, then integrating the images to increase the colour saturation and cancel out the noise. The results were better than I thought likely with a 1/2 inch sensor. Of course had the images taken been different enough by movement of the camera of something in the objective changing, the final image would not have been possible.

 

[Harvester]

Reports suggest that in a a couple of weeks time the spectacle could be repeated, as the sun’s rotation lines up the sun spots in earth’s direction again.