Comments on: A Weekend Present – Aurora Borealis

By: JW Thornhill

JW Thornhill — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 12:32:38 +0000

Thanks for the info Jeremy

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Wed, 12 Mar 2008 00:12:44 +0000

JW, yes they do get as far south as Metro Detroit, just not nearly as often. The times I saw them mentioned above was while in Lansing and near Flint. To get that far south, you really have to wait for a particularly strong magnetic storm. Right now, during solar minimum (little or no sunspots on the sun) these happen very infrequently. But solar activity is picking up, and in the coming few years it should bring many opportunities to see them at your latitude.

Just make sure to check out http://spaceweather.com for updates on when the aurora may be appearing. Another great resource is http://www.spacew.com/www/aurora.php You can see by clicking on the map that there were reports in Burton right around when Tricia saw it. And probably one of the best close to realtime resources is http://portal.cssdp.ca:8080/ssdp/static_content/ssdp/rt_oval/index.html

On that last one, if you see the bars at the bottom in orange or yellow down below the 60 degree magnetic latitude mark, you have a good chance of seeing them, so step outside and look.

By: JW Thornhill

JW Thornhill — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 23:44:02 +0000

WOW!!

I wish I could see them down here in Novi, Michigan. Being originally from Alabama I’ve never seen them here.

Is there a place or time I could go somewhere to see them this far down in Michigan?

By: Erin

Erin — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:53:25 +0000

wow thats so amazing!! youre lucky to see them! it must have been a great feeling

By: Kyle

Kyle — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 00:03:49 +0000

I second that, Jeremy–awesome site! Now that I’m in an area where I have a better chance of seeing this stuff (less light pollution), I’m going to check it daily

By: Tricia

Tricia — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:31:48 +0000

Jeremy – thanks for the awesome link! I just checked it out and it’s pretty cool!

By: Tricia

Tricia — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:26:29 +0000

Oh, and I am in the UP. Most non-Michiganders are a little confused when I say it, so I say Northern Michigan

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 22:15:04 +0000

Hey Kyle, we’re almost neighbors. I’m just south GR, closer to Kzoo.

By: Tricia

Tricia — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 21:17:14 +0000

Kyle – I grew up on the Eastern side of lower MI. When I was younger (say around 15 or so years ago), we could see the Northern lights from where we lived. But it was rare. I imagine the light pollution there is worse now (from Detroit) so they probably aren’t as visible now.

Where I am now, I can see them from my porch and I’m in “town.”

By: Kyle

Kyle — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 20:58:27 +0000

Okay, I have to assume you’re in the U.P. now. I can’t imagine being able to see them from even Traverse area. Where in SoMich did you grow up? We’re in the Grand Rapids area.

By: Jim

Jim — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:09:48 +0000

I think Canada is up to something. Blame Canada!

By: Jeremy

Jeremy — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 14:02:39 +0000

You are so lucky! I have only seen them twice in my life, and once was back in the 80s when I was really too young to care. More recently was in 2000 or 2001 during the last solar max cycle and we had a big geomagnetic storm that sent the aurora very far south.

Seeing the northern lights in person is an almost indescribable event. It is just so amazing. Of course, I’m also a big space and science junkie, so I get excited easily.

The good news is that we’re just pulling out of solar minimum, and solar activity (which creates the aurora) will be on the increase for the next few years and hopefully max out during 2010-2011. During this time, hopefully more people at lower latitudes will have the pleasure of seeing such a fantastic sight.

If anyone else is interested, you should check out http://spaceweather.com/ as they have a lot of good information and put out alerts when aurora may be visible

By: Tricia

Tricia — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:01:34 +0000

Julie – I live in Northern Michigan. However, I grew up in the Southern part. I have fond memories of my dad waking me up very early in the morning to show me the lights. He worked nights, so he’d see them on his way home and wake me up when he got home. They weren’t as bright, though, as they are farther up North where I am now. The displays here are similar to what is in that photo.

By: Julie Mead

Julie Mead — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 12:37:44 +0000

Wow! That’s amazing, thanks for such a great shot! I thought you were in Michigan? I didn’t know you could see those from that location. I’m in Ohio, maybe I should be looking out!