Is My Coronal Hole Showing?

I have to wake up earlier and earlier to catch the sunrise these days.   It's almost hard to believe there was a time not too long ago when I would wake up with the sun at 10:30 AM!   


The evenings have been just lovely as of late.   I go for a walk at about 6:30 or 7:00 PM, and the sun is just setting.   The air is calm, the temperature is tolerable at about 10° and there are plenty of signs of MOOSE being about.   Broken branches, huge hoofprints in the deep snow, but no sighting of the beast that made them.   There should be baby moose making their appearance in the next couple of months.   So cute!




Alaskan crop circles?

The solar flares are a-flyin', and Aurora she's a dancin'!   The clouds have finally cleared and the northern lights have exposed themselves.   The displays lately have been unlike any I've seen so far.   Usually Aurora is dancing light mostly on the northern horizon.   However, lately she's been darting across the sky from east to west and north to south and every variation of the cardinal directions.   I actually HEARD Aurora the other night! Maizura said to her they made a "whooshing" sound.   As I stood outside looking up, it reminded me of the sound of millions of electrified insects, buzzing and racing across the sky.   Pretty crazy.  

It's been more challenging to capture Aurora in her new display pattern.   As the lights are now more often above my head, it's hard to get a good angle without a tripod.   So, as I wish to share this amazing light show, you'll just have to take my word that it's better than TV:)


Last night, to my shear delight, I awoke at about 2:00 AM to have Aurora shining right outside my bedroom window!   Usually I can't really see the lights from that angle, so this was quite a treat.   Needless to say, I'm pretty sleep deprived today...

According to my email notifications, Aurora is only going to get better!   I've got some more late nights ahead of me looks like...

"The best auroras will probably occur in the night of the 16th/17th.  The effects of the large coronal hole facing Earth right now will probably be seen on the night of the 17th/18th."

Dr. Charles Deehr, Prof. Emer. Phys.     Ph. 907 474 7473 Fax 907 474 7290
email cdeehr@gi.alaska.edu
The Geophysical Institute
University of Alaska Fairbanks
903 Koyukuk Ave N
Fairbanks, Alaska  99775-7320


Thanks Dr. Deehr!


The kitties aren't too impressed anyway...