Aurora alert!

Darthchaffinch · 18/03/13 - 05:14

Those of you in Scotland may be able to see the Northern Lights tonight, just saw them for first time!

macsmurray · 18/03/13 - 05:16

They're amazing to see, I've seen them many times and they never fail to make me stare open mouthed.

ETA: I was half expecting another US mass shooting story

mackara · 18/03/13 - 05:24

Darthchaffinch wrote: »

Those of you in Scotland may be able to see the Northern Lights tonight, just saw them for first time!

Saw them once from Rathlin, totally awesome sight:):):)

Miss XYZ · 18/03/13 - 05:31

Oh I'm so jealous, I'd LOVE to see them!!

Julzei · 18/03/13 - 05:32

I had no idea you could see them from scotland, always thought you had to go to scandinavia to see them.

macsmurray · 18/03/13 - 05:33

Julzei wrote: »

I had no idea you could see them from scotland, always thought you had to go to scandinavia to see them.

You could, on occasion, see them from my old house which is only about 60 miles north of the border with England.

[Deleted User] · 18/03/13 - 05:34

Julzei wrote: »

I had no idea you could see them from scotland, always thought you had to go to scandinavia to see them.

I've seen them when I lived in Cruden Bay, Aberdeenshire.

Won't see them tonight, i'ts cloudy and snowing.

Addisonian · 18/03/13 - 05:35

Where abouts in Scotland? Is it just the far North?

Ruby94 · 18/03/13 - 05:40

http://aurorawatch.lancs.ac.uk/

This is a really useful site. Amber alert means you can see them in Scotland and northern England. Red alert means they're visible from the whole of the UK.

Miss XYZ · 18/03/13 - 05:41

Julzei wrote: »

I had no idea you could see them from scotland, always thought you had to go to scandinavia to see them.

I looked into going up there a couple of years ago to try and see them. I found a holiday cottage on the net in the north of Scotland which is supposed to be in a great location for seeing the Northern Lights. I never did go though.

mackara · 18/03/13 - 05:43

Julzei wrote: »

I had no idea you could see them from scotland, always thought you had to go to scandinavia to see them.

I could see them very clearly from Rathlin which is further south than Scotland, Light pollution is the key or even the lack of it.:)

TelevisionUser · 18/03/13 - 05:45

This phenomenon occurs near to the Earth's magnetic poles and there's a shot from space showing the Aurora Borealis in action: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Aurora_Borealis.jpg

mackara · 18/03/13 - 05:46

Oh and Neil Young records make a big difference as well http://youtu.be/UBz2vR0oEa0

[Deleted User] · 18/03/13 - 05:46

Global warming is supposed to make the visible further south.

Must annoy the astronomers.

1fab · 18/03/13 - 05:46

I read that you could see them as far south as London.:eek:

mackara · 18/03/13 - 05:51

1fab wrote: »

I read that you could see them as far south as London.:eek:

Nah, thats just Manchester burning again:D

Darthchaffinch · 18/03/13 - 11:43

Here's my photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10823446@N04/8565881047/

Miss XYZ · 18/03/13 - 12:44

Darthchaffinch wrote: »

Here's my photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10823446@N04/8565881047/

Wow, great photo!

Pandora 9 · 18/03/13 - 12:47

I would love to see them

[URL=]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V069wWEnCys[/URL]

kiviraat · 18/03/13 - 14:31

Was too wet last night to see them. Damn clouds!

JELLIES0 · 18/03/13 - 15:08

Well that's ruined all the fun on my ham radio gear for a couple of days. :mad:

euphie · 18/03/13 - 15:12

mackara wrote: »

I could see them very clearly from Rathlin which is further south than Scotland, Light pollution is the key or even the lack of it.:)

I didn't know they could be seen that far south - I'm in that part of the world, but have never seen them - must keep an eye out

TelevisionUser · 19/03/13 - 23:01

Darthchaffinch wrote: »

Here's my photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/10823446@N04/8565881047/

Thank you for the excellent aurora pic från Sverige, Darthchaffinch. By the way, have you had a chance yet to see and photograph Comet PanSTARRS (C/2011 L4) from your location? http://astronomical-calendar.org.uk/index.php/comet-panstarrs-march-19

albertd · 19/03/13 - 23:29

Although it is extremely rare, the aurora can very occasionally be seen right down to the south coast. I saw it once, about 20 years ago, here in Crawley. Back in the 60s I saw a very spectacular display (right up overhead), but it was while I was in the N. Yorks countryside on holiday.

Pete Lawrence in Selsey reported a good sighting back in 2003, but I cannot find any photos now.

You can get alerts on the SpaceWeather site. However, the activity has to be particularly strong (Planetary K-index = 9) to be visible right down here. The same latitude in N. America is much more fortunate due to the position of the North Magnetic Pole being in northern Canada.

mackara · 19/03/13 - 23:35

euphie wrote: »

I didn't know they could be seen that far south - I'm in that part of the world, but have never seen them - must keep an eye out

I have seen the lights once from the N.I mainland from a place called Orlock between Bangor and Donagadee in Co.Down, they were dim and distant but still impressive. Trick is to get away from Streetlights/towns etc and get as high as possible on a clear moon free night.

eulenspiegel · 20/03/13 - 00:09

I must have seen the Northern Lights at least half-a-dozen times here in Lincolnshire. I'm lucky because there is relatively little light pollution here. There were a couple of excellent displays in the early 1990s and again in the early 2000s but they don't seem to appear as frequently as they used to 10 or 20 years ago. The last time I saw the Northern Lights was on 21st January 2005.

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