Aurora Alert For The 6th December
Advanced Aurora Alert 6th December. There is a vast hole after opening up on the Sun yesterday. This vast hole is spewing out a broad stream of solar wind, similar to when there is a large X class CME, Corneal Mass Explosion. NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory photographed the coronal hole during the early hours of Thusday Dec. 3rd. The solar wind is expected to hit the northern hemisphere of earth on Sunday the 6th of December
Coronal holes are places where the sun’s magnetic field opens up and allows solar wind to escape. Hot plasma flows outward at speeds exceeding a million mph. Solar wind flowing from this coronal hole will reach Earth beginning ~Dec. 6th, and our solar wind environment will be dominated the stream for days after first contact. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras.
To see the Aurora in Mayo, it needs to be Kp6 or higher.
As was mentioned in a previous post, the best locations to view the Aurora is out in the countryside, away from light pollution. Any location preferably on higher ground with a clear view northwards would be best. Of course the weather has to play nice too with the sky clear of clouds! To be able to see the Aurora here in Mayo, the Kp index needs to be at least Kp 6 or higher. You can view the live Aurora forcast here; https://www.aurora-service.eu/aurora-forecast/
I have been a few years trying to capture the Aurora here in Mayo. Last October thankfully I not alone got to see, but also photographed the Aurora over Swinford. Although not perfect shots, I’m happy enough with them.
Aurora over Swinford in October 2015. The Kp when this photo was taken was Kp 7.3.
The settings I used for the shot above were, f/2.8, 25 sec, ISO-1000, at 18mm. I had my camera set up on the tripod but I’d forgotten my remote. Instead I used the timer on the camera, set at 5 second delay I think. If you have a wider lens it would be better for giving a wider view of the night sky. I also shot in Raw. Its best to shot in Raw as you will capture more detail in the Aurora.
Recent Comments