Comments on: Aurora cam

By: TheProbe

TheProbe — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:02:04 +0000

The Alaska cam cannot be accessed. Phil broke it.

By: Totally Live Sun on Earth Action! « Bearable Skyglow

Totally Live Sun on Earth Action! « Bearable Skyglow — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 03:35:42 +0000

[...] Phil at Bad Astronomy. Bookmark it. Know it. Love [...]

By: Philibuster » Blog Archive » View Auroras in Alaska

Philibuster » Blog Archive » View Auroras in Alaska — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 02:18:34 +0000

[...] read the Bad Astronomy blog everyday and almost everyday there is something cool on it. Today it has a link to a webcam in Alaska. Mainly to see the auroras. Very cool stuff indeed. Check out [...]

By: mapnut

mapnut — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:12:24 +0000

Michiel’s Swedish site is showing a bit of green just now! (15:11 EST)

By: Glee Glow

Glee Glow — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 20:06:04 +0000

The LHD will let us find out new things we have never seen before. New things never hurt no one. When are these people going to understand that “the standard model” doesn’t work. No one knows why.

On a related note, a UK bookmaker has lowered the odds on proving that god exists to just 4-1 to coincide with the switching on of the LHC. Article is in the Telegraph.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/religion/3374240/Paddy-Power-offers-odds-of-4-1-that-God-exists.html

By: Michael L

Michael L — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:50:25 +0000

@Jose… True…

By: Don Snow

Don Snow — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:45:41 +0000

@ Phil -

Just want to thank you, for letting me post on your blog. I think we’re diametrically opposed on many issues. But, you still let me post.

For that, I want to thank you and say I respect you.

Now, I can go to bed.

By: ioresult

ioresult — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 17:15:24 +0000

The webcam site seems overwhelmed, any click takes forever to respond. Bad Bad Astronomer for sending so many people on that small site.

By: José

José — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:35:49 +0000

@Michael L
Lighten up… she’ll be back in 4 years…
There you go thinking all Canadian again. The next race for the White House begins in about… 17 minutes.

By: shane

shane — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:23:02 +0000

I visited Antarctica and the aurorae were… I wish I could say stunning, or beautiful, or frightening, or weird, or alien, but I can’t. I only wish they had been there. All that way and not one, nada, zip, niente…

I wonder if Sarah Palin is even aware of the existence of Antarctica because apparently she thinks Africa is a country…
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article5095495.ece

By: Craig

Craig — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:22:20 +0000

Regarding Phil’s point #2 – “when it’s nighttime in Alaska”…at this time of the year, there is far more night than day, and soon enough it will be mostly night all the time in southern AK and completely dark 24 hours per day in the north.

I live in northeastern BC, and I see the aurora all the time and I never tire of it.

By: Michael L

Michael L — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:20:40 +0000

Ed:
Lighten up… she’ll be back in 4 years…

By: Todd W.

Todd W. — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 16:05:35 +0000

@IVAN3MAN

Yeah, but you just never know when the pilot light is going to go out. I mean, the suspense is unbearable!

By: IVAN3MAN

IVAN3MAN — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:59:29 +0000

This is far more entertaining than watching a bloody pilot light in some one’s basement boiler!

By: Todd W.

Todd W. — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:51:13 +0000

@ccpetersen

Yeah. My brother and I had been outside playing when they started. We ran inside to get my parents, who explained what they were and assured us that the lights were not aliens coming to get us.

By: ccpetersen

ccpetersen — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:46:54 +0000

Todd, when I was a little kid there was an auroral display over Boulder (where I was born and raised). Daddy took us out away from city lights to see them and I was so scared I wouldn’t look… I must have been 4 or so at the time. I shoulda looked…

By: Wayne

Wayne — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:27:04 +0000

My biggest surprise seeing them in person is that they DO visibly move as you watch them. Sometimes, it almost looked alive as it squirmed around. I can understand that to someone who didn’t know what it was, it could be very frightening.

By: kuhnigget

kuhnigget — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:12:33 +0000

My one and only aurora sighting: from Florida! I was driving up I-4 toward Borlando while bright red rays were streaking overhead, like searchlights. The DJ on the radio station I was listening to was saying, “What is going on with the sky?” I guess they freaked a lot of people out.

By: Cheyenne

Cheyenne — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:01:22 +0000

I saw the crazy lights when I was in mid Norway years ago. We took a four day trip up to Tromso, and at night everybody was out looking up at the sky. I’ve never seen anything like that before. They’re like sheets of light that sort of glisten back and forth (yeah, totally unscientific description- but they’re beautiful). I don’t remember any red colors. There were more blue and a couple shades of green. And out of three nights they only came out for one night, not sure how that works.

By: Todd W.

Todd W. — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:43:09 +0000

I saw the aurorae when I was a little kid in northern MN. First time seeing them and it freaked me out. My brother and I thought it was aliens (we must have just watched a sci-fi movie not too long before the event). The colors shifted pretty quickly…greens, reds. Quite a sight and even more awe-inspiring once we actually knew what they were.

Then, many years later (in high school, early 90s) after having moved to southern MN, I saw them again, though only faintly. Still, I was very surprised to see them, since I was so much further south and there was significantly more light pollution.

By: jh

jh — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:29:46 +0000

I don’t know where else to ask this, so I’ll ask here.

Phil, your book is available as an ebook from Sony. I have an ebook reader. Does anyone who have this book know if I’d be losing out on anything by purchasing it as an ebook?

Thanks

By: Pouria

Pouria — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:22:37 +0000

anyone that can mention at what time it’s visible in the pictures? Cause I for one couldn’t see jack squat on the ones I browsed.

By: huma

huma — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:13:18 +0000

em.. actually, it’s “equilibrated”

thanks for the link!

By: !AstralProjectile

!AstralProjectile — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 14:03:41 +0000

Togan: According to a Northern Exposure episode, it is great luck (for ther Japanese)to be conceived under an aurora. All the Japanese couples heading upstairs freaked out Holling VanCoeur.

By: Larian LeQuella

Larian LeQuella — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 13:49:27 +0000

As Evolving Squid said, it all depends. I have seen some that look very static, and others that were moving quite furiously.

My favorite was on a flight at 37,000 feet over “the northern tier” and they were out. We even pulled out the NVGs to look at them. Was quite spectacular being almost in them.