Tonight we had a big aurora. I now it was big as I could see it from my back yard and the deck off the bed room. It must be bright for us to see it so close to the city, below were my initial impressions:
10:10 PM 11/5/01: Intense red auroral activity fron NW to NE brightest in N. Going on x 10 min
10:16 PM 11/5/01: Though the game was good, I went out for a "pre-halftime" soak in the hot tub. I was looking at the moon rise. Then it hit me. The sky above and to the left (North) of the moon was red. Having just seen an aurora and seen web postings r.e. the possibility of aurora activity it immediately struck me what it was. Wow. I saw red. It initially ran from N to NE but then shifted to NW to NNE. Except for one brightening in the NNW the brightest spot was always N. I rechecked it and it has faded from 10:10PM to 10:19PM. I initially observed from 10:00-10:10 PM. Ann came out to observe with me from 10:10-10:19PM. Will recheck at half time.
At 10:40 I wonder if there is a faint red glow diffusely at the zenith and perhaps to the NE. The rising moon and the city's glow are not helping.
I announced this on our clubs BB this is what Don Kemper had to say:
I went out just now and saw the northern sky turn red in the east, purple and green in the west. the west seems to be changing rather quickly. Don
Jeff Ball saw it too:
Yes, I just came in at 10:30. Sky is still a red glow out this way. I have shot about 20 pics so far. Great show from our own front yards. It extended nearly up to Cassepea (sp? I know this is wrong). From east to west it must have extended 150 degrees at one time. Reds extending to near zenith, greens hugging the tree line and at times what looked like curtain effects. Wow! jb
John Kelly saw it:
I was bowled over by it. It was so bright just behind a ridge to my north that I thought at first that somebody must have put in a football field with stadium lighting. I e-mailed the science faculty yesterday evening after you posted your announcement that it was coming and several of them got out to see it last night. John
This is a link to an Aurora Observation reporting site: Aurora site