Northern lights could be visible across the UK – even in the south

Worth keeping an eye on the skies tonight.. The solar winds are expected to react with the atmosphere tonight and this could lead to lovely light show. Cloud cover low where I am atm so I will be keeping an eye on the sky. I guess if they are visible here they will be visible over large parts of the northern hemisphere..

The northern lights could be visible across the UK tonight in what the British Geological Survey has described as the best chance to see the elusive natural wonder in years.

A strong geomagnetic storm is heading in the direction of the Earth and is expected to hit on Thursday, meaning that by nightfall, those able to find clear, dark skies are in with a chance of witnessing the multi-coloured light show, which occurs when charged particles collide with our atmosphere.

www.theguardian.com...

reply to post by purplemer


I'm down south, and at the moment there's not a cloud in the sky, and after midnight all our streetlights go out so I'll be out with my camera later

This is one of the Aurora prediction sites I keep handy and it's not showing what the OP is talking about at the moment...but it updates regularly, too. So, I'd imagine that will tend to change as conditions do. It may well give a solid way of seeing where the line should be between visible and not.


Source

Good luck for seeing it over there! It's one sight I've yet to enjoy in person and dearly hope I can just once. It looks so incredible in videos.

Now everyone will be able to see that Huge cloaked alien mothership parked over the North pole when the Northern lights illuminate it. Think big, real big.

I am right on the coast facing north,just had a look but alas nothing. Clear skies as well.

reply to post by purplemer


The winds have been picked up by the ACE spacecraft,it is positioned upstream in the solar wind. Aprox 30 mins before it starts hitting planet earth...

reply to post by purplemer

im in lancashire north west uk clear skies but thats it

It seems the CME is late in arriving. Latest message from Aurorawatch UK:

Finally the CME has been detected by the ACE spacecraft, which is positioned upstream in the solar wind. It will be about 30 minutes from now before it impacts Earth's magnetosphere. It is too soon to see how effective it will be in generating ‪#‎aurora‬. We will send out alerts if geomagnetic activity becomes large enough for the aurora to be seen from the UK.

(posted on Facebook at 19.53 GMT)

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


I use the aurora observatory website from the University of Alaska... They're usually really spot on. They're also the same school that is involved with HAARP research:

Geophysical Institute - University of Alaska

reply to post by purplemer


When they say the South of the UK, they do not mean the South of the UK. They certainly do not mean as far south as I am, thats for damned sure. On a night where the sun manages to spew enough energetic particles at our planet, that you can see the Northern Lights from the Thames Estuary, I would expect all light polution to cease, as the energy grids expire in catastrophic fashion.

What they mean is that they will be visible from further south than normal, and thats all very nice and everything, but the South is the South, and what they are talking about is not.

reply to post by purplemer


Oooh...

I will be popping in out to check if they are there...! Fingers crossed as I have yet to see the Northern Lights where I am..

reply to post by TrueBrit


You'll certainly be better off the further north you are - but I recall the best ever auroral display I ever saw in 1989 when I was in the North Highlands - sightly soured by hearing on the news next day it had been visible down in Southampton. So always hope. Having a clear view to the northern horizon helps - often the north Norfolk coast (which I know isn't quite the south) is good, for example.

Just my luck I wont be able to see them from here.

reply to post by MystikMushroom


Oddly, I am getting a straight 404 on the whole Geo Dept in terms of the URL. Definitely the Auroral Prediction center. Is that a common issue there? If I drop the subdomain, I get the main page of the University fine..I just can't get to the Geo Dept?

It'll be dark here in just a couple of hours. I've been looking forward to nightfall all day.
I hope it stays clear. I have never seen the northern lights and it's on my bucket list.
I want to see them before my eyesight totally fails.
(I have 'visual snow' and eye pressure (glaucoma suspect) problems).

Please o please o please ... I hope I get to see them tonight.

I went to www.solarcycle24.com and saw this update:

Quote from site. You can see all the images there and what the current auroral oval is.
Updated 01/09/2014 @ 20:20 UTC
CME Sweeps Past Earth
A sudden solar wind increase to near 500 km/s was detected at 19:32 UTC. A little later and weaker than expected, but this appears to be the passage of an expected interplanetary shockwave (IP Shock) past the ACE Spacecraft. Magnetometers, including the ground based instrument in Boulder, Colorado, are now detecting a geomagnetic sudden impulse. This signals the passage of the interplanetery shock past our planet. Stay tuned for the latest updates.

UPDATE: An initial look at the data indicates a rather weak impact thus far. It is still very early and an increase in geomagnetic activity could still be in store in the wake of the CME impact. I do not personally expect G2 or G3 storming at this time, but will update as things unfold.

SUMMARY: Geomagnetic Sudden Impulse
Observed: 2014 Jan 09 2010 UTC
Deviation: 12 nT
Station: FRN

__

WARNING: Geomagnetic K-index of 4 expected
Valid From: 2014 Jan 09 2035 UTC
Valid To: 2014 Jan 10 2100 UTC
Warning Condition: Onset
Potential Impacts: Area of impact primarily poleward of 65 degrees Geomagnetic Latitude.
Induced Currents - Weak power grid fluctuations can occur.
Aurora - Aurora may be visible at high latitudes such as Canada and Alaska.

I live in Edmonton Alberta and lights in my place have been flickering randomly over the last hour. Coincidence? Who knows, but the storm may last up to 24 hrs, if it was clear tonight I would look.

reply to post by FlyersFan


Hope you get to see them.. I have seen them a few times from here and they really are very magical..

reply to post by Wrabbit2000


Odd, I just noticed that too. It was working last night. Maybe the solar storm knocked them offline! LOL