Shadow Dancing
October 2024 is a big astronomical month. Much to see in the night sky, from northern lights, to comets, to massive moons and meteorites.
The sun is going through a temperamental phase, releasing what seems like a steady stream of solar flares. If you can believe it; not up to a few months ago, had I ever seen the Aurora Borealis, at least not that I could recognize living the light polluted sky of a big city. Maybe those wisps were excited atomic elements, or maybe just high clouds.
Since moving up north, that has all changed. It is an embarrassment of cosmically veiled riches. I also recently updated my iPhone, and so I am well-armed to reveal the night sky's iridescent frills and petticoats to you too. Cue the music.
I actually went outside to catch the Draconid meteor shower when I was instead greeted with a light show like no other. The Draconid is so named because a keen eye can catch a shooting star chasing the Draco the Dragon's tale, the constellation that lies just above the Big Dipper, also known as Ursa Major, the Big Bear. The meteorites originate from the tale of the comet, 21P/Giacobini-Zinner.
We did indeed catch a couple ice balls come to a fiery end in the stratosphere. But there was very little a snow ball from space can do to turn an eye when the northern lights turn up the heat. Even the Big Dipper dimmed in comparison. Those little flecks in the shots are not noise and camera imperfections, but stars playing peek-a-boo from behind the atmospheric petticoats. If you look to the left of the photo below, starting about a quarter of the way up, you can spot the Ursa Major's telltale soup ladle. The Big Dipper is generally center-stage in my backyard.
If you visited my last blog, you would have been greeted with another session of aurora taken from my backyard.
The lights were predominantly green that night, green signally the excitement of monoatomic oxygen. This time out we had the full rainbow of colors, from red to violet, atomic displays resembling nebulae or galactic collisions, more than humble elemental clouds.
We can thank nitrogen for the pink and some of the red. Other red comes from diatomic oxygen, blue and purple come from hydrogen and helium. Those shades on the further sides of the rainbow can prove difficult to see with the naked eye, but with a camera able to gather extra light, very little of the show is missed.
I did go out last night with hopes of catching sight of the comet,Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. It was the closest it was going to get on October 12th. Alas, although there was some great star viewing to be had, the southwest sky was cloudy. Tonight the same thing. Hopefully, the sky will clear where it needs to, and we will get a glimpse of the Oort Cloud traveller. The bright Hunter Moon coming up won't make it easy.
I was thinking now that I live so far north. My camera may prove short on flowers. I hope, Hivelanders, you will accept sky blooms instead, at least to the Spring thaw.
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Words and Images are my own.
Bastet's Shadow is published in Monsters, Avatars, and Angels. Strays and the Wisp are available in paperback or digital through amazon and your local libraries and bookstores. Click on any title below to further explore and support my writing.
Fantastic purple auroras. Very strong and powerful at night. I wish we could see these displays in our sky one day. I did see some shooting stars at night and a few UFOs during daytime. More UFOs have been spotted in the north lately.
UFO's ... I think I may be too skeptical to see those, well those I linked with aliens, anyways. The skies up here are pretty amazing. Gorgeous cloud formations in the daytime and so many starts at night. I will keep my eyes peeled for those UFO's too:):):)
We have a village in the central part of the country where there was supposed to be a portal for UFOs to come to our land. Many villagers had seen the aliens.
It used to be very popular with scientists and tourists who went there to gather information and tried to catch the aliens.
I didn’t have the chance to visit this village. But I used to know an old scientist who used to work at NASA in his younger days. He actually had alien friends. He could request the UFO to appear among lots of people in daytime several years ago.
He’s a well known and well respected scientist with privileged background. He showed me the photos of his two alien friends. He taught me how to contact the aliens but I thought it was very unlikely until my experiment turned out to be okay. They came twice!
Some monks in the mountainous areas could also contact some aliens. They had strange visitors at night and frightened some unwitting novices in the monastery.
A famous F1 racer had been in contact with some aliens too. Most people who could contact these aliens seemed to be high level meditators with clearly focus mind. They communicated with telepathy.
I think the brain has amazing capabilities beyond usual expectations.
Wow ... where do you live?
Thailand in the Far East. The land of smiles and contradictions.
On the bright side ... a spiritual place.
It must have been an exciting experience viewing these astronomical wonders, the aurora and the flares and lights. It must have been a refreshing break from the heavy light pollution often seen in the city. And you captured these events well. Thanks for sharing them. I, too, would like to view them someday.
Our natural skies are a wonder. You don't always have to go far in a city to see them. If you have a substantial green area that is sometimes dark enough to reveal a little more for you. Beaches are good too. I saw Neowise that way when I was still leaving in downtown Vancouver. In some ways, light pollution makes it easier to pick out constellations. I get lost in the starts here.