Attention! Aurora alerts tonight!

[pgriz]

If you are north enough, you may be able to see a display of aurora borealis tonight, as there is a coronal mass ejection event in progress. Arrival time is projected around 10 pm March 7 PST or 1am March 8 EST plus or minus 6-7 hours. See: Aurora Alert — Check Your Skies - Homepage Observing - SkyandTelescope.com and SpaceWeather.com -- News and information about meteor showers, solar flares, auroras, and near-Earth asteroids for information.

If you do see it, the usual prep. as for photographing the night sky apply. Tripod, ISO's in the 400-1600, fast lens, 1-30 seconds depending on the amount of skyglow you get from urban light. Good luck, and hopefully someone will get some interesting pictures. I'm clouded out in Montreal at the moment, but le't see if others can see it.

 

[jaxx419]

This is in my bucket list. Unfortunately I'm in east texas!

 

[MLeeK]

I've lived in it before. AMAZING. I wonder if it will get as far south as where I am in NY. Might have to take a ride to amish country tonight!

 

[Mach0]

I've lived in it before. AMAZING. I wonder if it will get as far south as where I am in NY. Might have to take a ride to amish country tonight!

I'm in CT and I can't go lol. I have my daughter and the Mrs is in school..... I'll try my luck with a tripod on my back deck lol. At least I live in a rural areal but there's still light pollution.

 

[MLeeK]

I've lived in it before. AMAZING. I wonder if it will get as far south as where I am in NY. Might have to take a ride to amish country tonight!

I'm in CT and I can't go lol. I have my daughter and the Mrs is in school..... I'll try my luck with a tripod on my back deck lol. At least I live in a rural areal but there's still light pollution.

Sometimes living in the middle of NOTHING is nice! Not often though.
I'll go to the beach on Lake Erie for best results here if Amish Country fails

 

[snowbear]

I'm south of Washington, DC at about 38º 33' latitude, so it's not very likely. It also looks like some clouds moving in.

 

[pgriz]

I've lived in it before. AMAZING. I wonder if it will get as far south as where I am in NY. Might have to take a ride to amish country tonight!

I'm in CT and I can't go lol. I have my daughter and the Mrs is in school..... I'll try my luck with a tripod on my back deck lol. At least I live in a rural areal but there's still light pollution.

Sometimes living in the middle of NOTHING is nice! Not often though.
I'll go to the beach on Lake Erie for best results here if Amish Country fails

According to wundermaps, there is a clearing of about 50-80 miles centered over Buffalo right now, drifting eastward. You might just get lucky.

 

[Mach0]

Sometimes living in the middle of NOTHING is nice! Not often though.
I'll go to the beach on Lake Erie for best results here if Amish Country fails

Where I am it's pretty dead and wooded but I am between a couple of busy cities 15 mins each way. Sooooo I know there's light pollution. It will have to be a black out for it not to be.

 

[Flyer]

This is in my bucket list. Unfortunately I'm in east texas!

Me too ... and me too.

My wife thinks I'm crazy, but it is what it is.

 

[RxForB3]

Best I can figure, it looks like there will actually be a better chance of seeing it tomorrow based on this website: Aurora Forecast | Geophysical Institute

Does this sound right? Considering I don't have to work Friday, maybe that would be a better time to try to see something...

 

[MLeeK]

Good thing, cuz the cloud cover here is crappy.

 

[RxForB3]

It's somewhat clear here, but based on the Kp level, from what I understand, Washington state won't really be able to see it. Tomorrow night you might could see it, but it's suppose to be cloudier. Friday night looks to be the best shot, but unfortunately I'll be in Seattle with lights everywhere

 

[MLeeK]

When I lived in Alaska there was no real issue with light contamination for seeing...
Then again we could drive 5 minutes out of the city and be in the mountains and what little light contamination there was from the city... didn't matter a bit. It was literally like a swath of solid glow in the dark paint across the sky.

Sadly, I took it for granted then. We never intended on moving back to the lower 48.

 

[KAikens318]

I am keeping my fingers crossed as tight as possible that I will be able to see them on Friday. This is one of the biggest things on my bucket list and would love to not have to travel to Iceland or Alaska to see it!!! I am in NH and it looks like we just may be able to see it. I may have to drive out a ways to the country so that I don't have the city light pollution, but I am excited!!

 

[pgriz]

Apparently, last night was a bit of a bust. Here's another link to auroral predictions: OVATION Aurora. If I read this right, the lower 48 states and the south of most provinces will NOT see anything. However, Nature doesn't always follow our scripts, so tonight (Thursday) may still have some surprises in store. As for Friday, let's keep hoping that there's something to see.

Edit: Just came across a very nice article by SwitchFX here: http://www.thephotoforum.com/forum/articles-interest/276016-shooting-night-pictures-stars-stuff.html. His techniques will work on auroras just fine.