[kcam213]

Thanks for clearing this up for me.

I have seen the milky way and shooting starsmany times up north (Mancelona) now, so I have a dark sky... just can't believe that I haven't seen northern lights yet. Oh well, next summer maybe...

[SpaceGhost79]

The aurora varies in intensity. I've only seen it a few times where the sky was dancing with green. Another time my friends and I were at the beach in town and saw what almost looked like a spotlight waving back and forth across the sky before realizing it was the lights. And I've also seen it appear as a strong white band, almost looking like an arc of fog above the Lake Superior horizon (see pic below).

The photo below is a time exposure I was shooting on top of Sugarloaf Mountain when the lights came out. It was more like an arc of "fog"... fog to the naked eye, green lights to the camera lens. You can see the remnants of the sunset off to the west fade over to the green lights. I don't remember how long this exposure was, but based on the length of the star trails I'd say probably five or ten minutes at most.

[Jwo85]

Originally Posted by SpaceGhost79

There's no set time period that the aurora happens. It all depends on the sun's activity. I suggest visiting http://spaceweather.com. That'll give you the best idea of when to be prepared to see it.

Neat site. Thank You for it and thanks for all the reply's. Ill just have to pick a weekend and go camping.

[kcam213]

Originally Posted by SpaceGhost79

The aurora varies in intensity. I've only seen it a few times where the sky was dancing with green. Another time my friends and I were at the beach in town and saw what almost looked like a spotlight waving back and forth across the sky before realizing it was the lights. And I've also seen it appear as a strong white band, almost looking like an arc of fog above the Lake Superior horizon (see pic below).

The photo below is a time exposure I was shooting on top of Sugarloaf Mountain when the lights came out. It was more like an arc of "fog"... fog to the naked eye, green lights to the camera lens. You can see the remnants of the sunset off to the west fade over to the green lights. I don't remember how long this exposure was, but based on the length of the star trails I'd say probably five or ten minutes at most.

Awesome picture. Permission to use this as my desktop.

[bluebird39]

I moved here a little over 2 years ago, and saw them my first winter up here... in 2005. It was one of the most incredible things I've ever seen!

Here's another great link: The Aurora Page

We live around lattitude 45, in the lower p. It all depends on solar flares and solar activity, which right now is at a low in an 11 year cycle (I believe). It's best to see them in the winter, just because the nights are so long. You need a clear night, and one with little or no moon light. In Michigan, it's hard to get all of those things going, especially the clear nights. I check the solar activity frequently. If you see it's up, there's a chance it'll stay up for a day or 2. It tends to run in cycles within cycles. It's pretty cool if you ever see them though!

Good luck!

[jsejcm]

We live near Port Huron and I've seen them a couple times, but only as a greenish glow in the sky. My father-in-law has a cabin in St Helen and we saw them once there, what a difference, they were red, green, blue, yellow, very beautiful.

[Bluefly]

They were quite frequent over Superior this summer. Mostly dancing green on the horizon - kind of like seeing a hazy Emerald City from the Wizard of Oz. I always see them most regularly from Grand Marais, which is a little beach town at the end of a road isolated on Superior's south shore.

A few years ago they were right over Marquette - massive waves of green and red dancing directly overhead. I was alone on the beach and just in awe. There's really no similar experience in our world.

[SpaceGhost79]

Originally Posted by kcam213

Awesome picture. Permission to use this as my desktop.

By all means, feel free

[suydam]

I've seen them from a dock on Isle Royale. They were green and yellow lines/smears stretching from the horizon up about 70 degrees (so pretty tall!).

From Holland I've seen them as green thumbprint-shaped smudges on the horizon going up about 20 degrees.

From Detroit, as a child, I saw them as red lines across the entire sky. I remember neighbors coming to get us out of the house and actually being terrified. I was probably 10.

[bluebird39]

When I saw them, I was surprised at how fast they moved... It was like seeing a flickering candle in a dark, drafty room, only on steroids! It's incredible. Tell everyone you know that you want to see them. I did, and got a call that night from a person I'd told, looked outside, and there they were. I spent the next hour on the phone telling everyone I knew. It's an incredible experience, and one I hope to get to repeat.