I'll keep this account very brief, as the pictures speak for themselves...during the middle of the last week of October 2003, sunspot 486 became very active, hurling CMEs at the Earth. The energy was so great that the aurora borealis, normally only visible in the higher latitudes, became visible as far south as Texas. On the night of Wednesday 29 October, my friends and I headed out to see what we could see. Cloud cover was a bit of a concern, so we drove west into Illinois. We ended up a few miles east of Gibson City. There was a definite green glow in the sky, but nothing dramatic like we had hoped for.
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Left: IR satellite at 0300Z. Courtesy Purdue University. Right: Aurora near Gibson City, IL. View is to the north. Click for larger images. |
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While in the Gibson City area, we saw a briliant meteor. The majority was green, with a blueish white head. It appeared to explode in the sky above us. Unfortunately, none of us were taking a photo at the moment, otherwise we would have the greatest picture ever. After a while, we got cold and the aurora got dimmer, and we decided to call it a night. The drive back was largely uneventful. The aurora practically disappeared from sight when suddenly I looked off to the right. I'm amazed that I was able to communicate to Kevin our need to stop the car. The aurora was in full force, like nothing I had ever seen before. We spent the next half hour on the side of State Road 26 west of Pine Village taking pictures.
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View is to the northeast. Click for larger images. |
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View is to the northeast. Click for larger images. |
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View is to the northeast. Click for larger images. |
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