#59608
03/04/2002 10:08 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
Aurorae are indeed beautiful, aren't they, Connie? We almost never get them this far south, but the one time we did ... oh! what a night! The southern- and northern-hemisphere versions are, I believe, respectively called the aurora australis and the aurora borealis. Connie's gallery-link is spectacular, and several incredible aurora pictures can be found on that lovely site Helen provided about a week and a half ago: aurora over New Zealand: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010406.htmlvolcano and aurora in Iceland: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020121.htmlthe Black Aurora: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020101.htmlred aurora: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020115.html (personal favorite) aurora over clouds: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap010402.htmlOr choose your own from http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/cgi-bin/apod/apod_search?aurora. As you can see, I'm excited about that site. Thank you, Helen!
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#59609
03/04/2002 10:13 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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#59610
03/04/2002 10:24 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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#59611
03/04/2002 10:35 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
Although I didn't live quite as far up south as Rakiura, we got to see the southern aurora reasonably often, obviously normally during unusually strong sunspot activity. Although it always appeared a bit freaky, I can't remember seeing any that were mindblowing from the beauty point of view. It was usually just a kind of translucent curtain in one or maybe two colours. Like most natural phenomena, it did manage to make me feel very small and insignificant.
The worst instance of that, however, occurred once when I was riding my motorbike along a coastal road on the West Coast of the South Island. The front wheel of the bike sort of shimmeyed, and I assumed I'd ridden over a patch of oil. But then I happened to glance at the hills to my left, and they were rising and falling going south like a Mexican wave. It wasn't exaggerated or anything, but it was quite plain. An earthquake had just rolled underneath me! [gibbering wreck on two wheels -e]
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59612
03/04/2002 10:38 PM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
The town where I am from in Northern Lower Michigan is far enough North to see the A.B. I have had that pleasure more than a few times. It is an awesome sight, and yes, I have heard them as well. I have primarily seen the pale green and/or the white varieties, but once, be still my heart, I saw red ones. The best memory, though, was at [can you guess?] Stone Circle. I lay on my back not far from the fire, watching the Northern Lights and listening to a hammered dulcimer being played right next to me. [pure joy-e]
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#59613
03/05/2002 2:48 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Augh! The one thing I would regret dying without experiencing is this phenomenon. I wanna move North! (Or maybe, WAY-AY south...Hi Max and CK!  )
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#59614
03/05/2002 3:53 AM
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Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2001
Posts: 2,636 |
Come camping with me after Wapaloo, then. I can't guarantee anything, but there is always a better chance when you get away from the lights of civilization. 
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#59615
03/05/2002 9:59 AM
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Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679
addict
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addict
Joined: May 2000
Posts: 679 |
Or visit the Hebrides in Scotland or the North of Norway. Worth going to to even if you don't see the Aurorae. Travel in August so that you get the double benefit of seeing the Leonids aswell!
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#59616
03/05/2002 2:50 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 1,156 |
Or visit the Hebrides in Scotland or the North of Norway. Worth going to to even if you don't see the Aurorae.Probably true, but you don't have to go that far. We saw them in Winnipeg (an hour's drive from the US border) "all the time". (No good in St. John's - it's ALWAYS cloudy.) So the northern US should do it. Though Scotland and Norway sound more exotic! 
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#59617
03/05/2002 4:49 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
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#59618
03/05/2002 5:39 PM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
Friend of mine recently saw NL for the first time on a vacation to Iceland. Having lived in AK for a number of years, I had tried to explain it to him. On his return, he was nevertheless astounded at the variety of colors and the way the light moved - not at all what he expected.
Sometimes, when you see a thing often, you come to take it for granted. I remember staring at it for hours till I damned near froze to death when we first moved up north. Near the end of our stay, I hardly noticed. Often I've wished that I could see it again.
k
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#59619
03/07/2002 7:25 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 3,146 |
I lay on my back not far from the fire, watching the Northern Lights and listening to a hammered dulcimer being played right next to me.Well there you are, Connie, you learn something new every day, don't you? I'd love to see a hammered dulcimer. What do they drink, alcohol-based wood polish? Do they play in tune once they're hammered? Could you arrange this as a poster exhibition at WP? 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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#59620
03/07/2002 7:41 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 771 |
I lay on my back not far from the fire, watching the Northern Lights and listening to a hammered dulcimer being played right next to me.You make a fine point, CK. I would argue that once the dulcimer is hammered, it would be easier to deal a play. "Hey baby, what key are you in? Can I buy you another varnish?"
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#59621
03/08/2002 2:30 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
I'd love to see a hammered dulcimer. Ohhhh, CK, that instrument has the most beautiful sound! Just...the feeling it gives is just indescribable! Pretty! PLEASING! Happy even when sad. Dancing! Delicate! Yippee!
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#59623
03/10/2002 9:36 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
Isn't the Southern Cross a part of this phenomena in the Southern hemisphere?
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#59624
03/10/2002 10:34 PM
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Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Jul 2000
Posts: 1,094 |
Isn't the Southern Cross a part of this phenomena in the Southern hemisphere?
The Southern Cross is just another constellation, so I doubt it. I can't see how a few stars of varying billions of light-years away can have any effect on electronic particles hitting the atmosphere.
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#59625
03/10/2002 11:42 PM
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Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2000
Posts: 3,409 |
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#59626
03/10/2002 11:48 PM
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Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2001
Posts: 4,189 |
The Southern Cross is just another constellation
Yup, Jazzo...I should know the Southern Cross is a constellation. Don't know why I connected it with the aurora.
And, by the way, Southern Cross isn't a bad Crosby, Stills & Nash tune, either.
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#59627
03/21/2002 12:10 AM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
I remember staring at it for hours till I damned near froze to deathToday's picture at http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod is a spectacular aurora over Antactica. You'd have certain frozen here, FF: the outside temperature at the time this photograph was taken was about -73ºC (-100ºF).
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#59628
03/21/2002 4:10 AM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477
addict
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addict
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 477 |
As a postscript to Keiva, this is the actual pic. I went to look and saw a green sun, and thought I was seeing strange things, but that's because I got the *new "Pic of the Day". This is the url for the pic Keiva was referring to yesterday: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020320.htmlOh, and it's Anta rctica. Can't let things from the "top of the world" be spelt wrong. Hev
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#59629
03/21/2002 9:55 AM
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Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jan 2002
Posts: 1,526 |
Thanks to you and kei. Similar to what I remember.
But my recollection was it was many different colors at once - green, blue, red - and that it was moving continuously and quickly - like one of those psychedelic lights. I don't know. Maybe my memory is making it out to be more than it was.
k
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#59630
03/21/2002 12:27 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
Thanks, Hev! Came in this morning (when "today" had become "yesterday") to update the url, and found that a fast-fingered sheila had beaten me to it!
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#59631
03/21/2002 2:05 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
> Augh! The one thing I would regret dying without experiencing is this phenomenon. I wanna move North! (Or maybe, WAY-AY south...Hi Max and CK!
What she said.
Oh - and not having sung "You'll never walk alone" on the kop!! Hi Dunc
stales
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#59632
03/21/2002 2:28 PM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
What's a kop, please? Send private if it's embarrassing.
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#59633
03/21/2002 2:52 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I have seen magazine articles about sounds associated with aurora, and also with meteorites. Big problem is that sound travels so slow compared to light, there would be a very large time difference. There are theories that there is energy enough in non-visible spectrum to be converted to sound by something close to the observer - aluminum foil, etc. etc. Here's a URL with discussion by a physicist. http://www.gi.alaska.edu/ScienceForum/ASF10/1096.html
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#59635
03/21/2002 5:08 PM
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Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Mar 2002
Posts: 1,692 |
There is a steep street in Shrewsbury in Shropshire called Wyle Cop. I suppose the buildings and the street itself go back to at least the 16th century - there is by the way a splendidly idiosyncratic coaching inn, now a hotel, called The Lion - indicating that the word Kopje was adopted and distorted in this country in the dim and distant past - possibly Viking influence?
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#59636
03/22/2002 1:57 AM
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Oh, thanks, stales--I knew I'd seen it recently. Afrikaans--sigh--I still miss David108.
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#59637
03/22/2002 4:19 PM
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Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Nov 2000
Posts: 866 |
dxb - don't think I've had the pleasure?
G'day mate - and welcome
stales
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#59638
04/23/2002 5:04 PM
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Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 2,605 |
A truly spectacular aurora, featured yesterday: http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap020422.htmlIt strikes me that the red and green colors shown here are unusual in aurorae, blue and violet being more typical. Can anyone confirm or explain this?
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#59639
04/23/2002 7:10 PM
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
I have seen a red aurora in Massachusetts. The solar particles can have a spectrum of frequencies, and so when converted to light, different colors.
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