 |
| 5/11/24 Maple Leaf Park, about 10:15 p.m. |
After seeing amazing photos from friends and neighbors on Facebook
last Friday, I was encouraged to stay up late enough to try to see the Aurora
Borealis on Saturday night. Along with many neighbors who had the same idea, I arrived
at Maple Leaf Park around 10 p.m. I waited until about 11 (when I was afraid I
might nod off right there at the park), but didn’t see anything. It was kind of
fun, though, to chat with neighbors, all of us sharing that same sense of
anticipation.
To entertain myself as I waited, I sketched a guy using his laptop under a park shelter. He didn’t seem at all interested in looking for the AB – he just likes to work at night in the middle of a city park, I guess. (Of course I went prepared with my Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Book Light!)
LOL At least you got a sketch of something while you waited. I went out two nights...saw lots of clouds the first night and then a clear sky with stars the second night, but no colors.
ReplyDeleteAs long as I had my black sketchbook with me, I figured I might as well use it! ;-)
DeleteI too was a disappointed viewer, thought maybe I'd gone out too late (like two in the morning because I'd fallen asleep on the couch). As my eyes became accustomed to the night sky while standing in my driveway, I realized I was looking at some swirling images NOT clouds, but no color whatsoever. It was amazing to look straight up and see the swirls converging overhead, coming from all directions. I tried several other nights when others in my area were reporting "amazing colors" and saw nothing at all. Well, maybe I should have driven somewhere but I wasn't that motivated. :-)
ReplyDeleteMany people said that when they looked with their naked eyes, they saw only streaks of white light, but when they looked through their camera lens, even on phones, they could see the colors! I guess camera lenses filter out the ambient light or something like that, making it easier to see the colors.
DeleteI heard that too but for me, if I can't see it with my naked eye, there isn't the same enjoyment looking through a camera. Would have all those people posting on FB anyway and it would feel the same to me. A little like watching an eclipse through a pinhole box. Just not the same, or at least not worth it for me. I've seen small versions of the a b that had color so I didn't feel totally let down. Those ghostly shapes in the sky were pretty cool on their own.
Delete