# Northern Lights



## mallardhunter (May 15, 2004)

Alls I can say it wow  If you are still up you might be able to make the show. I hope they will be out again tomarrow.


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## leadshot (Aug 2, 2004)

Yea. That was unreal. Can't say I've ever seen them so big and bright.


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## mallardhunter (May 15, 2004)

What are those from anyways.


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## scissorbill (Sep 14, 2003)

Sunspot activity


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

reflection from the polar ice cap.... pretty cool huh...


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## Sasha and Abby (May 11, 2004)

How late in the year do you see them? Any special time of night?


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Usually best when earth is tilted for summer.... the best I have ever seen was in August, full canopy of light overhead.


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## GooseBuster3 (Mar 1, 2002)

We also saw them this morning while we were setting up the dekes.


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## Chris Schulz (Sep 7, 2004)

yep saw them this morning too


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## ND decoy (Feb 1, 2003)

I was standing on my deck at about 3:00 am in Bismarck and could see them. I can't imagine how bright they were away from the city.


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## Shu (Oct 21, 2003)

Saw some last night around the fire in MN. Not intense, but pretty cool anyways.


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## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

There is a strong geomagnetic storm going on that "sparked beautiful auroras last night" according to Space Weather.


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## vizslaguy (Jun 13, 2005)

God those are awesome. Only see them once in a GREAT, GREAT while here in Nebraska. Was in Drayton,ND once and I just sat there awestruck.


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## scissorbill (Sep 14, 2003)

Buckeye. they are not from a reflection of the polar ice cap. It is due to solar activity.


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## buckseye (Dec 8, 2003)

Not even a little...


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## Maverick (Mar 4, 2002)

They were amazing...


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## zettler (Sep 7, 2002)

It just might not be over according to Space.com....

"An ongoing series of seven major solar flares, including two on Saturday, could disrupt communications on Earth and generate colorful sky shows for people at high northern latitudes for the next several days.

Already satellites have been affected. Even more serious effects are possible this week.

The spate of activity from the Sun is being generated by a large sunspot named 798. Sunspots are cooler and darker regions of pent-up magnetic activity. When they unleash their energy, it's a bit like the top coming off a shaken champagne bottle.

The sunspot is just rotating into view, so its energy has been directed sideways and not directly at Earth. In coming days, if more major flares erupt as forecasters expect, they'll head right at us and radio blackouts, cell phone dropouts and other communications disruptions are more likely, scientists said.

Solar flares send radiation to Earth in about 8 minutes. Hours later, clouds of charged particles can engulf the planet. If the magnetic field of a storm is oriented opposite to our planet's protective magnetic field, gaps are created and radiation leaks to the planet's surface, potentially threatening astronauts aboard the International Space Station, sometimes shorting out satellites, and even causing terrestrial power grids to trip.

Solar activity is at "very high levels," according to NOAA's Space Environment Center (SEC).

The SEC has reported that agencies have experienced problems with fluctuations in their
electric power systems due to the severe levels of geomagnetic activity. Spacecraft operations, high-frequency communications, and navigation systems such as the Global Positioning System (GPS) constellation of satellites "are also experiencing impacts due to the strong to severe solar activity."

A severe geomagnetic storm produced aurora sightings along the northern tier of the United States, and even as far south as Arizona. Aurora are colorful sky lights triggered when charged particles excite molecules in the atmosphere.

According to one eyewitness from British Columbia, Canada, the solar storm is lighting up the sky. "It is 10 p.m. and the northern sky here is aglow, as if there were a major league night game at the nearby school," local resident of Cortes Island, John Sprungman, told SPACE.com. He reported no special effects at this moment other than the bright night sky."


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## nickle ditch (Aug 26, 2002)

Yeah, they were amazing. I was up at 4:30 am to go to work and noticed them when i took the dogs out. I got my wife and one of the kids up to watch them.


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## north14 (Oct 1, 2004)

My wife and I were doing a wedding dance at Lake Metigoshe and on the way home they were awesome. The sky was completly lit up on three sides of us.


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## deafishunt (Feb 5, 2005)

Yeah, I saw northern lights too. They gifted me a big good lucky for goose hunting on morning.


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## TANATA (Oct 31, 2003)

Watched them all morning in the deer blind.


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