Northern Lights 2024 (updated)

Location: Saint John, NB, Canada

Date Time:  May 11, 2024 0425-0500hrs

Weather:  Mostly clear, no wind, warmish 2C.  

Report:

The large sunspot group 3664 released six consecutive coronal mass ejections (CMEs) beginning on May 10th, 2024. The aurora oval from spaceweather.com indicated that the CMEs began impacting Earth around 14:30 local time. Aurora sightings were reported from regions worldwide where night had fallen. In Saint John, dense cloud cover continued well past midnight, obscuring any potential views.

At around 0430 hours, I observed significant aurora activity; it was faint but visible in the west near Arcturus, and also in the northeast.  Processing these images revealed colors that were previously invisible.

Spaceweather.com reported significant ground current activity during aurora time.

Solar Eclipse 2024 (Updated)

Location:  Hartland, NB, Canada

Date Time:  April 8, 2024  1400-1650 hrs

Weather:  Mostly Sunny, highs of 18C, breezy, hazy.  Planes going back and forth leaving contrails.

Attendance: Edward and David

Report:

• The Moon started to eclipse the Sun around 2 PM. When I interlaced my fingers and observed the shadows they cast on my lawn chair and the ground, they created patterns resembling the eclipsed Sun!
• Just before the eclipse, the sky gradually darkened, and various species of birds began to assemble in groups before heading off in a single direction for each specie. This behavior was new to me; I believe it occurs more subtly in the evenings.
• Total eclipse started at 1634hrs and ended at 1636hrs, even though I thought it was supposed to start at 1628hrs.  Ed and I both noticed a bright prominence on the lower left limb of the sun, sticking out from behind the moon!  It was very bright!
• As the eclipse occurred, the wind calmed to a still and the temperature dropped a bit. Jupiter and Venus became distinctly visible, with Venus positioned below the Sun and Jupiter high above, towards the East. Both were captured in the second video.
• As the eclipse occurred, the sun momentarily dimmed with a flicker. The sun's corona emerged, visible in the video, but witnessing it firsthand was extraordinary! Truly stunning!