Be alert for northern lights.

[Scott]

Those who have subscribed to my northern lights notification list might want to check their email frequently over the next 2-3 days, especially between 5pm-2am.

The sun has belched out a couple vicious solar flares and spewed some CME's, as pictured below.
http://www.spaceweather.com/images2005/16jan05/cme_c3_big.gif

Sadly, at the speed at which these particular CME's are traveling, there is a chance that they are going to arrive and depart before Monday night, which is our next clear sky night.

There is still a good chance of additional solar flares which would be better timed for a Monday or Tuesday night showing.

This round of activity could easily achieve the type of show as seen October 30, 2003.

My apologies for not being around to send out the email notification for the show last November...I was basking in the sun down in Myrtle Beach.

[trfour]

Thanks for the info Scott!
I will be watching

[Lakegeezer]

Check out the site at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/kp_3d.html Its updated every three hours and gives you a measurement of aurora activity. If the bar graphs are strongly in the red, it is worth checking outside.

[Scott]

Check out the site at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/rt_plots/kp_3d.html Its updated every three hours and gives you a measurement of aurora activity. If the bar graphs are strongly in the red, it is worth checking outside.
One note...be real careful when using that chart. It plots the activity for the PAST three hours, and because the most intense part of a northern lights display rarely lasts that long, it's VERY easy to miss the best part if you wait for it to show up on the graph. :)

On that graph:

5 = very tough to see
6 = bland, boring, dull, Zzzzzzzz....
7 = not bad, but probably won't hold your attention for long if it's sub zero
8 = spectacular, whoa, takes your breath away.
9 = jaw dropping, drag people out of bed, frostbite is an afterthought, stand outside in your PJ's, short lived.

[Pepper]

9 = jaw dropping, drag people out of bed, frostbite is an afterthought, stand outside in your PJ's, short lived.

Scott's father can attest to the fact that being dragged out of bed every thirty minutes or so is a very real possibility in their house!!!!!

Scott, take pity on your folks this time around, wouldya? It's gonna be really really really cold this time, and only those of us like you and I, who are both insane and extremely young :eek2: will actually be willing to charge outside in underwear to watch the sky in those temperatures.

Happy viewing, buddy! Gonna come visit me soon?

[Mee-n-Mac]

There was a big solar flare Thurs AM accompanied by a good sized CME which I think has just passed us. Could be good aurora activity tonight so if the sky is clear go out and have a look :banana:

I just checked the URL above and the K factor is 8 !! So wrap the missus in a heated blanket, drag out the extension cord and head outside when it gets dark !

update @ 10:50 pm - K factor dropped to 5 (still good) but it was 8, 8, 6 during the day and early evening. Did anyone see any northern lights ?