godt dammit that was cool

[solarbird]

Aurora! Lots of it. Huge sweeping sheets, mostly white but a lot of green, sometimes little flashes of purple; huge arcs overhead, sometimes pulses following trails, sometimes arcs leaping across the sky like giant jacob's ladders in SPACE, sometimes pulsating lacework overhead, sometimes just streaked and lined but stable banks of light brighter than the city lights or even the moon. I've seen aurora before, but it's always been this far south and it's never looked that bright or that strong.

kathrynt and llachglin drove over because they were fogged in - I didn't even know who it was in the car and I started waving them down and pointing UP UP YOU FOOLS LOOK UP and then they parked and oh look, it's kathrynt and llachglin who went to the west just to see the pretty lights because the fog had already settled in too much to see anything past the streetlight glare in Bothell.

Godt dammit that was cool.

It's still going a little and it keeps waking back up, so if you still haven't seen it, you still might catch some.

Comments

[petit-chou.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad you got to see it, too! We stood out there like fools forever. We even got our neighbour outside in her bare feet. :)

Nature's plasma screen

[(Anonymous)]

That must've been several orders or magnitude awesome.I've never seen them myself-IIRC, they have been seen as far south as Kansas.Have you tried photographing them? Scott

[annathepiper]

Stupid Anna Had to Go to Bed If She Wanted to Be Conscious For Work the Next Morning. ;P But BOY HOWDY the parts I saw were purty!

Re: Nature's plasma screen

[solarbird]

I thought about it briefly but thought, "...there's just no way for me to do this. I have no idea how I would." Obviously, it can be done, but I've no idea how. In no small part, they're just too mobile, most of the time. I don't know how you'd get an exposure long enough.

Re: Nature's plasma screen

[gerimaple.livejournal.com]

jgurney got photos. he said something about an 8 second exposure, but i have no idea what the mechanics of that are. some help I am :P I could ask him, if you like.

Re: Nature's plasma screen

[gerimaple.livejournal.com]

jgurney also sends this link to some shots on the KOMO-TV website.

Re: Nature's plasma screen

[gerimaple.livejournal.com]

http://www.komotv.com/stories/33856.htm

*thwaps self with wet noodle*