Saturday, December 16, 2006

Northern Lights

A John Vandehei took this picture of the Aurora Borealis in Galesburg Michigan on the 14th. I was in Michigan sitting on the edge of a farm field just like this. He got the photo I regreted missing as I forgot to throw the camera in my car after my son emailed me that I might look up since a strong geomagnetic storm was being reported. I saw skies very similar to this. Imagine a couple Geminid metorites streaking through it and you've got the effect - a bit of the wonder of our solar system.

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6 comments:

Anvilcloud said...

We didn't see them despite your heads-up. The one time we did see them, they were much whiter than this. Still great though.

Cathy said...

AC - my son explained that there was a magnetic line shift or flop just west of me and that it excited the atmosphere in that direction. He didn't see them in Boston and you'll notice that most of the pictures were further west.

Anonymous said...

Fantastic photo Cathy, thanks for sharing it.

By the way, my internet must have healed itself today. I came home from the office and my modem lights were on, just like they are supposed to be. I'm a happy girl.

LauraHinNJ said...

Gosh that's pretty!

swamp4me said...

I've never seen the Northern lights, but I'd like to one of these days. About three or four years ago they were supposed to be visible at our latitude, but bad weather blocked our view. Such is life.

Cathy said...

Ah, yes SwampForMe, your disappointment reminds me of the evening years ago when my husband and I flew to Texas to join our astronomer son for the most anticipated Leonid meteor shower ever. We arrived late in the day and spent the night in the Comfort Inn in El Paso - rather than risking driving through the desert late in the day. We missed the fireworks. My son woke us in the middle of the night as he stood rhapsodzing on the mountain side as we slept in the heart of a sky-obscuring city. ARGHHHH!