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Posted by: Stu Jun 29 2011, 01:26 AM

FINALLY saw some NLC tonight...

http://twitpic.com/5idedh

Posted by: nprev Jun 29 2011, 01:44 AM

Ah, memories. Used to see those fairly frequently in Montana was a kid, but frankly I thought they were an annoyance becuase they prolonged twilight!

Posted by: Stu Jul 1 2011, 05:53 AM

Been waiting years for a major display...

Ta dah!!!!

Wide angle view here: http://twitpic.com/5je33r/full

Posted by: nprev Jul 1 2011, 06:03 AM

Beee-YOO-Teee!!! Nice catch!

Posted by: Stu Jul 1 2011, 06:20 PM

Thanks Nick!

Full report on this morning's incredible display... http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2011/07/01/nlc-spectacular

Posted by: Stu Jul 2 2011, 08:41 AM

Another display this morning... blurred by haze and slight mis, and none of the dramatic features seen 24 hours earlier, so poor compared to the previous morning's, but after the **rubbish** June we had even this was much appreciated...!

Posted by: Stu Jul 3 2011, 12:48 PM

Another display this morning, absolutely stunning. I was out from 11.30 Sat night until 4am this morning... full report on my blog later, but for now...

...and...

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Jul 3 2011, 02:14 PM

If this keeps up Stu you are hereby challenged to a) create animations b ) create anaglyphs c) calculate both distance from you and altitude. For b ) and c) you'll need one or more friends from 10-20 miles north/south of you willing to take simultaneous photographs with the same lens (and preferably same exposure/camera).

Posted by: Stu Jul 3 2011, 04:37 PM

Nice ideas, Dan, but can't see it happening. My fellow NLC Hunter lives about 30 miles south, but we have vastly different cameras (i.e. his is a state of the art OMG! semi-AI digital SLR while mine is a very humble "bridge camera"...comparing them is like comparing chalk and cheesecake) and schedules. But as pleased as I am with these pix they have shown me, when I look at those taken by others, that I reeeeeeeeally need a digi SLR, my camera just isn't good enough, so that's my next target...it's right there on the list with "New PC", "solar telescope" and "food"...

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Jul 3 2011, 04:42 PM

Just throwing in some really vague numbers and rough angles, I calculated by the seat of my pants that those clouds are somewhere over Aberdeen. Though you wouldn't see those particular clouds if you were there. Because of the necessary viewing angle you would instead see different ones farther North.

Posted by: eoincampbell Jul 3 2011, 07:19 PM

I shall be on the lookout for the little blighters whilst visiting the Outer Hebrides, love those shots Stu, despite that camera.

Posted by: ngunn Jul 3 2011, 08:05 PM

I stayed up last night long enough to catch the beginning of the display and looking at Stu's photo I did have the feeling of recognising a couple of the same bright features. I'm only about 100 miles SW of him so I reckon that's possible. Keep up the vigil Stu! I'm enjoying the photos even though I know that nothing can fully capture their breathtaking beauty.

Posted by: djellison Jul 3 2011, 08:05 PM

Doesn't need to be the same camera - just coordinate viewing angle and time of picture taking - and then we'll figure out the rest here

Posted by: Stu Jul 3 2011, 09:00 PM

Ok, cool then, I'm up for that.

Full report up on my blog now: http://cumbriansky.wordpress.com/2011/07/03/patience-rewarded

Posted by: ElkGroveDan Jul 3 2011, 10:23 PM

Agree with Doug. I shouldn't have said same "camera". If you tell him what you are shooting at he can set his in a similar fashion, and both of you shoot along the same azimuth. If you could get him to come a wee bit farther north in your direction it would help. I fear that at 30 miles apart the shapes of the clouds may not be recognizable. NLCs are typically at altitudes of 50 miles.

But you should also be able to do an animation quite nicely at the same time, perhaps a shot every minute or two. Some of those might then be paired into anaglyphs if you are lucky.

Posted by: Stu Jul 8 2011, 07:30 AM

Nice hour-long display seen this morning...

Posted by: Sunspot Jul 8 2011, 10:51 AM

Seems to be cloudy here all the time

Posted by: Stu Jul 10 2011, 07:04 AM

Another decent display here this morning...

Posted by: Ron Hobbs Aug 30 2011, 04:39 PM

NASA has a neat image of of polar mesospheric clouds, aka noctilucent clouds, taken from the Space Station. It was taken from over the English Channel.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/multimedia/gallery/iss028e020276.html

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Unmanned Spaceflight.com _ Chit Chat _ NLC 2011