The Northern Lights - April 5

[Prairie Journal]

I submitted a report. The northern lights were decent this morning. I wish that I would have had my camera - but the timing with work and all .... 

The display was moderate in intensity - and beautiful to observe.

It was a delight to observe after not seeing the lights since September 2005.

I hope that some of you were out for this one.

[auroradude]

    I've been out for the past five hours observing and photographing. I started to drive but ended up only a couple hundred yards from the house. There was some pretty interesting stuff overhead that reminded me of a display on February 20, 2001. There were close multiple paralell arcs that stayed there for quite a long time. It looked like ribbony christmas candy.
    It was nice to see the lights from home again. The last time I saw them was from a red-eye flight headed towards Mexico on the 6th of March. I missed the March 19-20 display but saw some really nice zodiacal lights and Canopus shining brightly from 22 degrees north. It is wierd for me to see our pole star so low in the north and Orion nearly overhead.
      Well,there's still some darkness and I left a couple cameras out there so its back to the elments for now.

[auroradude]

    Just finished up a couple rolls this past hour on the aurora and it has already begun to get quite light out.
The moon looks as if it doesn't want to set tonight. It is still about 5 degrees above the NNW horizon. Pretty late for a first quarter.
   'Got a thrill when a pheasant rooster crowed and flew from a few feet in front of me. Wasn't expecting that on this silent morning. So much for sleep with my heart still racing!

[Prairie Journal]

I see that my report still isn't in the sightings.

For those interested, the aurora for some reason had a much more green shade than normal (usually, the lights look more whitish).

There were rays, curtains, an arc, glows and wave like pulsations. Most of the activity was in the north and northeast sky. There was a little in the northwest sky, but much lower in the sky.

If I had known about this, I would have gotten up at 3 in the morning and photographed. There aren't the opportunities to do this now (solar minimum), and the fact that I missed a decent one bothers me some (but on the other hand, life goes on).

[NightPhoenix]

I saw them last night/early this morning in Northwest Wisconsin. They were very pretty, but nothing more than a diffused glow just above the tree line. They faded in and out, sometimes I saw nothing other times the glow brightened...nothing to get excited about really...then at about 3:30am I woke up and it was little brighter, a few times saw some semblance of an arc above the tree line but still not enough to make get dressed and get my gear together and go for a drive to favorite spots to take pics. I just enjoyed seeing them, but really not much activity. (2 weekends ago I was in Chisolm MN and saw a better, albeit VERY brief show...of course I didn't have my camera then..LOL!) However I have a good feeling if I'd been 3 hours further North where I used to live it might have been a great night. But It was just "nice" here in Northwest Wisconsin. Although I could have missed it at some point. It was really nice to see them, but I long for what I used to see up North along the international border...still something is definitely better than nothing.

[auroradude]

I see that my report(s) have not been posted either. On the sightings map there are several new"stars" including my location but there are no reports posted since the 19th-20th of March. There definately seems to be a problem.

[NØTKG]

I see that my report still isn't in the sightings.

For those interested, the aurora for some reason had a much more green shade than normal (usually, the lights look more whitish).

There were rays, curtains, an arc, glows and wave like pulsations. Most of the activity was in the north and northeast sky. There was a little in the northwest sky, but much lower in the sky.

If I had known about this, I would have gotten up at 3 in the morning and photographed. There aren't the opportunities to do this now (solar minimum), and the fact that I missed a decent one bothers me some (but on the other hand, life goes on).

From my location south of Minot much of the nicest arcing  was obscured by clouds low in the northern sky. I shot some photos but they are nothing to write home about. Nonetheless I enjoyed watching the show since the sky has been so quiet for so long.

Maybe tonight will be more productive.