Northern Lights?

[Dave2002]

I just saw a rather faint vesion of the Northern Lights as I went out. It was still there a few minutes ago. Of course it could be something else, but I don't think so.

This is in the Guildford area - so will look out to see if they get more colourful later on. Has anyone else seen such a thing? It's very cold here, and this is just possible, though it's very far south.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

It's a very clear night up here, and we're a little nearer to polar regions, so I'll let you know. Just off outside.

[Chris Newman]

According to the BBC News Channel thousands of people over the country are reporting meteor showers. It is suggested that the Geminids have arrived a few a few days early.

[Frances_iom]

There was a recent solar gust - see http://www.spaceweather.com/ - the large filiament that was ejected from the Sun a day or so ago was not headed in Earth's direction (luckily for us) but there is expected to be another solar gust that should give Aurora in higher latitudes - I have difficulty seeing anything less bright than Venus around Guildford with all the light polution.

[Dave2002]

Definitely not a meteor shower! I wasn't absolutely sure about the direction, but on checking fairly recently it was pretty much exactly due North. Initially lights were low down in the sky but by 8pm they were quite a bit higher.They faded up and down quite rapidly. We drove round a bit to see if there were any better viewing spots, but in the end we realised that our own front garden was almost as good as any of the locations, though Effingham Common cricket ground was quite good earlier in the evening around 6pm. By 8.30pm there was no trace of them.

Frances is right - light pollution is a big problem, but just occasionally we can see more. Not much chance of seeing the Milky Way though around here, and indeed I think that most of us in the UK don't know what it looks like. Around 20 or more years ago I was knocked out in France on holiday by walking into the garden of the place we were staying, then noticing that it was very dark and hard to see where to stand, and then looking up at the sky. Absolutely amazing - but not a view many of us ever see now - the band of stars just leapt out from the blackness. We perhaps can't avoid light pollution, but we could at least minimise its effects very considerably - though who cares!

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Very disappointing. It had become cloudy again just when I thought we had a clear sky. Yet more snow.
Light pollution isn't too bad here, as street lighting is minimal. The problem is when th local cats switch on security lights; normally we have a superb view of the Milky Way.

[Caliban]

One of the remaining great ambitions of my life is to witness something like this:

http://vimeo.com/16917950

[mercia]

Looking in a south-easterly direction this morning at about 6.45am at about 30 degrees angle there was a very bright star (or planet?), in fact because the dawn was about to break I couldn't actually see any other stars. What would this have been?

[ardcarp]

A few years ago Mrs Ardcarp and I saw shafts of faintly coloured light fanning out upwards in the Northern evening sky. This was in Cornwall. We could find no rational explanation for them, so we contacted the local TV wetherman, Craig Rich, from Spotlight Southwest, the local BBC TV station. He told us, over the phone, that indeed it was an appearance of the Aurora Borealis, and that on very rare occasions it has been seen on the North coast of Spain.

[kernelbogey]

A few years ago Mrs Ardcarp and I saw shafts of faintly coloured light fanning out upwards in the Northern evening sky. This was in Cornwall.

I'm cheered by this anecdote. i grew up in Cornwall and in about 1960 saw what I thought must have been the Aurora Borealis. There was no report of this in the news and I assumed at the time that my conclusion was wrong, as we were so far south. Very pleasing to have my suspicion confirmed!