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posted October 23, 2003 10:16 AM
...I remember the two consecutive winters I spent as a young adult up in the northern part of Alaska...this inquisitive beach boy from from Hawaii, the one who had lived in the tropics all of his growing years...got to experience this surreal phenomena called the Aurora Borealis...the northern lights...a couple of nights it was so massive, so active, so beautiful...it looked so close in the sky...like you could almost touch it!....I'm still amazed....
____________ “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
posted October 23, 2003 02:36 PM
Edited By: dougmeyer on 23 Oct 2003 15:37
I went to school in northern Wisconsin- used to alter the conciousness on occasion and lay out in the yard looking up - giggling like idiots at a fireworks display except it was 30 below. Ah, how easily we were entertained. I hear we're supposed to get it tomorrow night. Maybe for old times sake I'll........
Doug
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posted October 23, 2003 05:53 PM
I don't think I've ever seen them. Always in the wrong place, or the right place and wrong time of the year. I can hope!
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82 Gpz750, 84 Ninja 900, 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy Big Bore Kit), *another* 2000 ZX12R (Muzzy custom stroke crank 1341cc motor), 2004 ZZR1200, 2005 ZX10R, 2007 ZX14, 2008 Concours 14, 2014 Versys 650, 2014 Yamaha WR450F, 2015 Ninja H2
posted October 23, 2003 09:41 PM
u dont have to go to alaska to see em. i'v seen em right here in vancouver several times at winter. they're not nearly as bright as the northern variety of course, but still amazing to watch
posted October 24, 2003 06:55 AM
Edited By: dougmeyer on 24 Oct 2003 11:24
Usually you need to be above about 45 N Lat. The further north the better. Winter in the Northern Hemisphere is better. The sight can be a HOLY SHIT kind of thing, can really give you the creeps. I've seen them from a light twin A/C in northern canada at about 25,000 feet and it's a sight I'll never forget. I hope it's clear tonight. Actually now that I think about it, Ithink I have some 35mm slides of the Aurora taken from the aforementioned Wisconsin days. At least I think I do. Could be I just THINK I do.
Go here to see the source of the "Massive Coronal Ejection: http://www.nascom.nasa.gov/data/realtime-update.html
Doug
posted October 24, 2003 10:23 AM
wow, all i'v ever seen is grean. didnt know it came in other colours too. beautiful pics. but it is amazing when u see it in person. pics will never do them justice. the scale is simple awe inspiring.
posted October 24, 2003 10:27 AM
Swft. Help me out here. When I go to NOAA.com and try and copy the links to the sun spot storm pictures they switch to sohowww. If I try and edit that out it goes to the "no such place page". What am I missing?
Doug
posted October 24, 2003 10:39 AM
I saw them once in northern Michigan. I was riding my ZX-11 up north for the weekend, it was late Friday night and I was on a 2 lane road. Came around a right hander onto a long straightaway and saw it. I knew immediately what it was but it was so amazing I alomst ran off the road looking at it. So I stopped and stared at for some 15 minutes just in awe.
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Needs a life
Miles to go before I sleep....
Posts: 10623
posted October 24, 2003 12:32 PM
...Alaska-bound....2005~2006?...w/S&W Model 500...just in case...and I hope to see my friend Borealis...yes, frEEK...they do come in many different colors...I 'ate' some of them....or was it Doug that ate it?....
____________ “We sleep safe in our beds because rough men
stand ready in the night to visit violence on those
who would do us harm.”
-George Orwell
posted October 24, 2003 08:17 PM
I'm in Michigan's upper penninsula, 100 mi north of Green Bay. We get the green ones like these about every other month or so on average increasing to about once a month in winter. Sometimes we get the pinks and reds but very rarely get the blues. Truely an awesome sight for a southern boy like me. The best ones I've seen were actually in the summer out on a boat in "an altered state of concience" as Doug so aptly put it. They catch you by surprise sometimes when your late getting home at night on the snowmobiles. I got some great pics around somewhere.
____________
"Growing old is inevitable, growing up is optional."
posted October 25, 2003 06:44 AM
wow...cool pics man for CA boys like me who have never seen it...
BTW that "coronal mass ejection" caused a worldwide radio (HF) blackout Friday. Hardly anyone on the ham radios & HF broadcasters could get thru the racket the sun made...looks like it will continue thru the weekend...
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posted October 23, 2003 07:41 AM
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posted October 23, 2003 02:41 PM
