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Photo by: Bristen Bourque..


http://www.canadaeast.com/tt/news/ar...rticleID=56077

[ June 03, 2007, 12:36: Message edited by: D18-6 ]

Hmmmm, you don't see that every day.

:D

I saw one back in the 1980s. It was at night and was spectacular, with a tail of exploding colors.

Hey Cathy - check this out...I remember a while back we were talking about the NOrthern Lights:

Wow. Those are pretty intense!
We get some good ones every year, living this far north, but nothing like these.

Wow - that was pretty cool! I am somewhat of an amateur astronomer so this is right up my alley. I often meet with the Chicago Astronomical Society (not a member, they welcome guests at their public viewings) and I have seen Pleiades, Saturn, Mars, Eagle Nebula and others but I've yet to witness something like this with my own eyes.... I hope too.

As a kid spending my summers in Timmins Ontario we would see the Northern Lights quite often-quite fabulous up there with no city lights interfering in that pitch black sky.
We can see them down here in the Toronto area but they aren't as intense due to the city lights. The Persiad (sp) showers are quite something as well.

Charlene, the summers spent in Timmins sound nice.

Living so close to Chicago doesn't make for good night sky viewing either. The Astronomical group usually holds their public meetings in the far west suburbs where it is much darker. I like to go to the meetings in the fall/winter, because thats when some of the best viewing is. Pleiades is especially stunning and there's less people because most don't find it fun to stand outside in a dark, remote, wooded area, freezing their butts off while trying to look at an object a few million miles away... I can't imagine why! :D

We'll have Northern Lights here in Northern Maine, starting sometime in November.
Char, didn't I once send you a picture of our Northern Lights, taken from a friends back yard?

yep you did cathy...nice shot!

I've never seen the Northern Lights.... yet. Is there a particular time of year? How far North do I need to go? I'm in North Central Illinois.

We used to see them in the summer all the time up in Timmins, which is 8 hours north of Toronto. Down here in the Toronto area I've seen them in the summer, fall and winter...Sometimes I've read that they might be visible and other times they just appear.
This is a great site with tons of info and data/pictures:
http://www.northern-lights.no/

once you see them you'll never forget it...they are truly magical...

Ain't that what you call a roarinboarialis? :confused: (forgive spelling)

We see them year 'round up here in northern Minnesota, although I think more have the opportunity to see them through the fall and winter months because the days are shorter, and total darkness occurs much earlier in the evening. Most summer sightings are not until midnight or later.
We have had some awesome displays in the past year or so, lots of movement, and more colors than just the common greenish hues. Come on up to the north country, Peter, it's not that far away from where you are!
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