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missmolly
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Anyone ever seen the red or yellow aurora?
I've seen one of the rarest, the pulsating aurora. It was concentric, pulsing rings of light that ascended the night sky to its apex.
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Mocha
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oh, i saw the most mesmerizing red aurora one cold winter night. it was pretty early, 9pm or so, and i saw them building across the lake. i had to go outside and lay on the ground to see them cover the entire sky! i called my sister in southern MN and she went outside and also saw them. the news the next day stated they were seen in IA, WI, MO and some other southern states. crazy stuff! i haven't seen just yellow, but yellow combined with blue, green, red.
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muddyfeet
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Red wavelengths are emitted from excited oxygen very high in the atmosphere - so will be generally on 'top' of the green aurora bands. These photos are from one of the strongest red displays I've seen- on St Patrick's Day 2016. My self portrait sitting on the jeep came out blurry, but I already had a couple good shots I wanted so I was just enjoying the show for what it was until my fingers got too cold to use the camera.
Some of the shape has to do with the angle at which you view the aurora: If it is far toward the horizon you see more pillars and curtains. Closer and it looks like snaking bands. If it is overhead then you get more circular forms and pulsations.
Example of a 'auroral blob' seen over crooked lake.
One of the more poorly understood forms is the "proton arc" that occurs during stong auroral activity. It is a faint band usually only picked up by the camera, but the interesting feature is that it appears to come from the south (~120deg from the northern horizon) during auroral displays, and it is very thin and defined: less than a 1degree band. I've captured it a few times:
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Canoearoo
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I also have seen a red one in the middle of winter. It was so red it reflected off the snow making everything red. It was amazing. I saw pulsating once this last winter.. I had never seen that before
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missmolly
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quote Canoearoo: "I also have seen a red one in the middle of winter. It was so red it reflected off the snow making everything red. It was amazing. I saw pulsating once this last winter.. I had never seen that before"
Coolaroo! I didn't see this one, but it shows how red it can be.
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missmolly
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Muddyfeet, how come ya know so much about the aurora?
Cool story, Mocha!
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Jeriatric
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Weird or not, I just want to see one. To that end, I am scheduled for Norway in October.
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OSLO
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quote muddyfeet: "quote OSLO: "
One of the credited photographers, or just generally you like to take photos of the aurora?"
No, just an amateur aurora photographer and overall science nerd. For a few years I've been a part of a few online aurora hunting groups. "
Sounds like we have some similar interests! The only group I am a part of though is the Great Lakes Aurora Hunters on Facebook.
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OSLO
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Regarding the original post, I have never seen a red aurora, and I am skeptical about them being as red as the photo posted in this thread. However, purples and reds are fairly commonly visible among the more predominant green in an aurora. Yellows also can show up, but again, whether with my camera or looking with the naked eye, they are usually a small part of the show. Generally, auroras look like white, glowing clouds on the horizon, which is why people often miss them. Only when they increase in intensity do they produce enough light to activate the cones in our eyes, and then the greens, purples, etc. start to become visible.
I think that the pulsating aurora in the article that was originally posted is fairly common. I assume that because I have seen that phenomenon numerous times since I moved to northern Minnesota, and I haven't been up here that many years.
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TwoByGreenCanoe
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I had always heard those called proton arcs as well, but I think they had been misidentified. Apparently that is a Steve. Yes, odd name, but here you go: http://www.space.com/36583-new-aurora-feature-named-steve-investigated.html"
Wow, a name to what I witnessed back in the early 90s living in North Dakota.
Along the horizon you would see the regular dancing of aurora then the explosion of white light in a column directly vertical of us. It would develop into circular rings and then continue pulsating to the southern pole. It would cycle through this process roughly 2 minutes apart.
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Zulu
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I saw the multiple colors of the Aurora one autumn night in the early 1970s. I couldn't believe my eyes. It reminded me of the little lines that pulsate across a ghost pattern on a tube type television. By coincidence I had taken a small amount of medicinal Lysergic Acid Diethylamide of the purple microdot variety earlier that evening which made the experience even more mind blowing. The amount I took wasn't enough to cause hallucinations like the time I saw shag carpet turn into wriggling worms so I believe what I saw was real. My mom saw it too and she just drank coffee.
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HighnDry
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I've seen the red as well as green and an orangish red aurora. They are fascinating to witness.
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nctry
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I thought this thread was miss molly was introducing a new fragrance to her line of whatever you call that stuff gals Squirt all over themselves.
I recall one a number of years back riding with my neighbors up here. We stopped, turned off the lights and we're amazed! They were everywhere and bright. Reds and yellows are not as often, but really add flavor.
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yellowcanoe
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They happen around here pretty regularly. Of course the trees get in the way and at 2 am I am not getting up to drive to the top of the hill 3 miles away for a good view.
One happened while I was at work.. We all ran outside. No cameras. It was a red and green aurora and the location Portland Maine.
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muddyfeet
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quote OSLO: "
One of the credited photographers, or just generally you like to take photos of the aurora?"
No, just an amateur aurora photographer and overall science nerd. For a few years I've been a part of a few online aurora hunting groups.
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BlueSkiesWI
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Got to see a few red and orange flashes last September in Alaska!
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Basspro69
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quote Frenchy19: "I have only seen the Northern Lights one time, and that was smack dab in the middle of St. Paul. Colors were incredible. Of course, it was after a Grateful Dead concert while I was in college...
" LOLOLOLOLOL
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Frenchy19
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I have only seen the Northern Lights one time, and that was smack dab in the middle of St. Paul. Colors were incredible. Of course, it was after a Grateful Dead concert while I was in college...
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OSLO
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quote missmolly: "quote Canoearoo: "I also have seen a red one in the middle of winter. It was so red it reflected off the snow making everything red. It was amazing. I saw pulsating once this last winter.. I had never seen that before"
Coolaroo! I didn't see this one, but it shows how red it can be.
"
Keep in mind that you can change a photo of an aurora with normal color to what you see in that photo by just moving one slider in a photo editing program...
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OSLO
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quote muddyfeet: "Red wavelengths are emitted from excited oxygen very high in the atmosphere - so will be generally on 'top' of the green aurora bands. These photos are from one of the strongest red displays I've seen- on St Patrick's Day 2016. My self portrait sitting on the jeep came out blurry, but I already had a couple good shots I wanted so I was just enjoying the show for what it was until my fingers got too cold to use the camera.
Some of the shape has to do with the angle at which you view the aurora: If it is far toward the horizon you see more pillars and curtains. Closer and it looks like snaking bands. If it is overhead then you get more circular forms and pulsations.
Example of a 'auroral blob' seen over crooked lake.
One of the more poorly understood forms is the "proton arc" that occurs during stong auroral activity. It is a faint band usually only picked up by the camera, but the interesting feature is that it appears to come from the south (~120deg from the northern horizon) during auroral displays, and it is very thin and defined: less than a 1degree band. I've captured it a few times:
"
I had always heard those called proton arcs as well, but I think they had been misidentified. Apparently that is a Steve. Yes, odd name, but here you go: http://www.space.com/36583-new-aurora-feature-named-steve-investigated.html
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Minnesotian
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Yep, i have seen the blue and red aurora. Only once though. Driving back from high school one night after rehersal, i look north across the long Western Minnesota prairie and see them. Beautiful.
However, i have also had the pleasure of hearing the lights. Again, only once, and this was on a cold winter night. I was 16 and went out for a walk around 11 or so. I look up and the northern lights are completly over me, stretching from nearly horizon to horizon. And there is an accompanying wooshing sound, that sounds like radio static, geting louder and softer as the lights danced. That was amazing.
Northern lights sounds
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muddyfeet
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quote OSLO: " Apparently that is a Steve. Yes, odd name, but here you go: http://www.space.com/36583-new-aurora-feature-named-steve-investigated.html"
Thanks! I'm one of the amateur photographers mentioned in the article. That's some cool science, though.
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OSLO
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quote muddyfeet: "quote OSLO: " Apparently that is a Steve. Yes, odd name, but here you go: http://www.space.com/36583-new-aurora-feature-named-steve-investigated.html"
Thanks! I'm one of the amateur photographers mentioned in the article. That's some cool science, though. "
One of the credited photographers, or just generally you like to take photos of the aurora?
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