Tonights the night...

[46er]

so they say. I just may head out to the plains.

 

[46er]

Very impressive display last night from the plains.

Just kidding, another bust. A big crowd in the plains though

CME IMPACT: A coronal mass ejection (CME) swept past Earth on April 13th around 22:55 UT. The impact rattled Earth's magnetic field and induced electrical currents in the ground around the Arctic Circle. “On my instruments there was a clear signature of the incoming coronal mass ejection," says Stammes. "The impact was not as strong as expected, but there were nice variations on my magnetometer and ground current instruments. There were also Northern Lights."

So far geomagnetic activity resulting from the impact has fallen short of storm levels, but this could change as Earth passes through the wake of the CME. High-latitude sky watchers should remain alert for auroras on April 13-14.

 

[Gibby]

We were there around eleven and it was a full house. The cloud cover rolled in fast.

 

[Spung-Man]

Decent atmospheric conditions in western Atlantic County, but the light show was not very good. Every time I've seen the Northern Lights here they've been a dull reddish-purple, barely perceptible, and they flash like faint heat lightning. Last night's display was very faint around 12:30 AM, if that is what I saw. It was that dim. The wife saw faint flashes around 5:30 AM too.

It is a shame that light pollution is creeping in from all sides. We need to better policies to control glare from excess lighting. Light that isn't doing what it is supposed to is wasted energy. If the Pinelands Commission is hellbent on developing this place, they should at the very least encourage environmentally sound ways of doing it instead of waiving environmental rules through the invocation of bogus redevelopment zones.

 

[Spung-Man]

I just asked an astrophysicist colleague why NJ'a aurora was reddish-purple, not green like light shows up north. The difference is in the energy levels – green is high-energy emissions, red is low-energy emissions. I'll be in Fairbanks in a couple weeks and, if lucky, hope to see a better show there. At this time of the year twilight ends at midnight and starts again at 3:30 AM so the viewing window will be short.

 

[Spung-Man]

It is a shame that light pollution is creeping in from all sides. We need to better policies to control glare from excess lighting. Light that isn't doing what it is supposed to is wasted energy. If the Pinelands Commission is hellbent on developing this place, they should at the very least encourage environmentally sound ways of doing it instead of waiving environmental rules through the invocation of bogus redevelopment zones.

One way to improve dark-sky conditions and save energy is the use of LEDs.

LED streetlamp aims to improve public's view of stars​

"Researchers believe they have come up with a new type of LED-powered streetlamp that could radically reduce light pollution."​

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-22292129​

We must let Commission staffers know that we wish to have innovations like this incorporated into Pinelands planning, even if only as recommendations.

S-M

 

[Tgeorge]

I wish this was mandatory in ALL new light fixtures outside and jurisdictions were encouraged to retrofit existing units.