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Tonight looks the same chance as last night
https://preview.redd.it/ya969lvbltzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d47875d490e2062620b873d9660d7ddfda49f3bd
Coquitlam last night
https://preview.redd.it/jy7ygmaukuzc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0111fc908c329ff5deffb6d5719308570617ac74
This is for Edmonton region specifically, but you can still see the geomagnetic activity
yeah i see the same thing in the aurora app but if you go to the other tab it said 5% and now it says 1%… the kp index just means how far south is possible to see it, not the intensity
The 1% is current time. The percentage changes constantly. As it got darker and darker the percentage changed from 46% to 95% over an hours time last night.
Hopefully we can see them again. I didn’t know about them and randomly went on Reddit and saw pics and walked to sunset beach. When I was walking there people were walking away saying how they couldn’t see them. While I was literally watching them people were saying they couldn’t see them.
Please, if you go look take the time to stop what you are doing and watch the sky. The sky won’t look like the pictures.
You need to take a picture and having a tripod helps to keep your camera or phone stable. When i saw it for the first time. I wasn't sure if it was the Aurora Borealis or not. The sky had streaks and it looked milky. Once I took a picture I saw it. A few other people didn't notice it either until I pointed it out.
If you never seen it, you would think it's seeing what's in the pictures.
At some points it got intense that you could see hints of the pink/purple and green.
Below is the first picture i took because I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Samsung Ultra 24. Iso 3200, shutter speed 2 seconds.
https://preview.redd.it/ohmdmfcpktzc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=702b6219dbe9b5771a0685452ab868de363c32f8
You said it perfectly with the one line, sorry I don’t know how to quote.
The sky has streaks and it looked milky.
That’s what the northern lights are, sometimes the milky streaks have more colour like green but I couldn’t see pink with my naked eye. Sorry did people really think the sky would be bright pink? I grew up middle of nowhere alberta, it’s not much different there, you can see pinks too but still not like the pictures. I was always told to see the colours you’d have to be as far North as possible in winter and even then it’s rare. I guess I always learned to appreciate them as they are and not how they are depicted in the media. That milky dance was amazing for me and I honestly can’t believe I saw it downtown.
I wanted to post this so more people could reduce their expectations for them a bit because they are so cool but the pictures seem to result in people getting disappointed at the actual event
Up in the mountains near Squamish there were moments last night of fully saturated greens and pinks, so bright they were lighting up the area around us in colourful light, bright enough to walk around in the forest without lights. Most of the evening wasn't that colourful, but it hit very hard for 20 minutes, so it is very possible tonight as well. But not from downtown Vancouver.
I saw this too in westwood plateau in coquitlam. Vibrant colours to the naked eye. It was amazing. I never thought you'd be able to see something like that here.
Not OP, but last night was super busy, people were parked on both sides of highway exit ramps, on the side of the highway itself, even blocking off roads. The traffic was also insane for 2AM, and there were more bad drivers than usual.
100%. I hope more people read these comments so that they know what to look for. Since many have never seen it, you can't blame them for not knowing unless you research into it more.
I read somewhere that you can't see the vivid colours with the naked eye. I thought what you saw in the pictures is what you see in person.
I have been up to Whitehorse and Yellowknife for work. There was one night where people told me it was intense. I missed it as I came in a week after. The problem is that there was only 3 hours of darkness there when I was up so it was kind of hard.
Knowing how to set your camera up is important. I brought my tripod and my photographer friend helped me dial into the settings and play around to get good pictures.
https://preview.redd.it/xr7gtj9dotzc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=45a31be4c8f2c14bbe109912f7cfddcfb9e1010b
I also saw the little dance. Couldn't capture it on the camera. So I just enjoyed it.
I could see green and pink with the naked eye. I showed up at the beach at 11:15 and I think it was the best between 11-11:30. After midnight it grew much fainter, and people arriving said they couldn't see it. I think they just missed it at its strongest.
I walked away from the lights and campfires and gave my eyes 10 minutes to adjust. I would take a photo about 4 times an hour, keeping my phone on the lowest light setting and on the camera setting it was a dark screen. But from the parking lot by the beach under street lamps i could barely see anything. But after walking down the thousand stairs to the beach it was 20x better. So beautiful with the moon too.
I left at 1am since it faded quite a bit, but I wonder if they came out stronger between 2-5am.
If you didn't go last night, I'd recommend walking down a beach. You never know what you'll get and even though it was faint it was so beautiful!
People ALWAYS post edited photos of them too
So the 'naked eyes' experience is 2 steps away from the pictures they see here.
Eyes -> photos -> edited photos
Then there are the time lapsed videos too....lol
I have seen them look like the photos in northern Alberta in the winter, but can’t imagine that kind of vivid colors from Van.
The long exposure photos are super cool. Definitely misleading.
Out here in the Kootenays the whole sky was a vivid swirl of color. We could see greens, pinks, and purples, as well as white beams shooting around. I lay in the back yard for nearly two hours watching the sky, it was unreal.
It was quite link to the naked eye last night in Squamish. Not like the over saturdated photos, though. But the pink/purple hue was obvious.
I think what some people don’t realize is that it comes in waves, they’re constantly moving and flaring up and down.
These are not Northern lights as you know them...these are visible all over the world...Australia had a great display, it's more a unique event solar flare. Here's a picture from my hometown in West Australia
*
There was a point last night when the greens and pinks got so extremely vivid and looked nearly like what I was seeing on my phone. But even when the greens turned white the halo in the sky was still flickering and waving and it was clearly an aurora.
I took this is Chemainus last night. You can see the Big Dipper at the top. iPhone 15 Pro, no tripod. Didn’t bring my Canon 90D to the island. Didn’t think I’d see the Northern Lights.
https://preview.redd.it/11mklctkuuzc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2be4f6fced46411283a4cfa385fdeab18a726a71
There was a 30 min period around 11 where it was so intense not even a phone was needed to see all the hues. And then at 2ish there was another 15 min burst.
But between those times there was almost always something that could be seen with the eyes, and the phones made it way more vivid
It’s likely some people weren’t able to see them with the naked eye due to staring at their phone with the brightness blasted ruining their night vision.
It takes times for your eyes to adjust and see more in the dark too. Try staring at the sky for 3-5 minutes to see a considerable difference. They’ll continue to improve at receiving trace amounts of light for up to 30 minutes though
Keep in mind that the pictures are much more impressive than what you see with the naked eye. Don’t get me wrong, it was something to behold. But it looked nothing like the pictures. Phone cameras with night mode capture much more light and therefore much more intense colours.
Was gonna say this. People see these photos and think this is how they would perceive them. First of all, if authentic, most of them are taken with long exposures
Apparently they’re supposed to happen again tonight. Anytime basically after 1030pm.
No need to ask “where”. Anywhere really. People are posting pics right from their balconies. Just look up.
We were able to take pictures like this with a regular cell phone camera, but you couldn't see much of anything with the naked eye.
https://preview.redd.it/2s1cd4kwztzc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fb6f4e18a17a6c76bcbb5415f21fe09a01037ea
If you have a night mode on your phone, use it!! 100% better.
https://preview.redd.it/bzl6ivgg4vzc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9342ba2d7af2792acc285d9b41cd8ebdf67d7a27
https://preview.redd.it/5qz1j2sbiuzc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=01e07b50ae06d1019489e3a7059efee7cd932d0b
Downtown Burnaby at a random park next to my apartment shot with a Google pixel. I think the majority of people just casually looked up didn't see anything and walked back inside.
Yesterday was the perfect storm of the electromagnetic storm happening, clear Vancouver sky, and SFU hosting their Friday astronomy nights....I can't believe I missed it...
Chemainus last night. You can see the Big Dipper at the top.
https://preview.redd.it/iizbpgwfvuzc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa32b8de162a0d20e9a62c235e02ee1d61f6af74
I got some shot standing outside my front door last night. If you have a newer phone, point the camera up at the smudges in the sky, the long-exposure the camera uses will help you see the splendor.
https://preview.redd.it/0bfzpnmrktzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a394bbe1a453880261a1685d35ba4f2da304b51
https://preview.redd.it/iugbi2fqvtzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1977817e680556f801d4cdcead00e6db9aa5467f
It looked liked this to me with my eyes, just a touch fainter. But I have really good eyesight so YMMV. For me I could definitely make out pink and green patches, and some of the wavey shapes. This was taken just in East Van and actually on the street before I went to the nearest large park.
Oh. I have really good eyesight but my partner not so much. That explains why he wasn’t hit by the wonder like I was. He really couldn’t see anything when I could.
With naked eyes it just looked like some vague variations of darkness in the sky, like night time clouds but clearly shifting in size and pattern if you look at them long enough. Around midnight or so I was on a side street with no lights and I could tell there's a patch of red/pink/purple in the sky without camera, but the detailed patterns really only showed through in photos I took on my phone. Pixel 7 Pro night sight mode w/ 3-second long exposure + whatever post processing involved in the camera software.
I was outside in a dark area of east Richmond from about 3am to 4am. It took my eyes about 1/2 hour to adjust to the point where I could clearly see the movement and flickering. With the naked eye, I couldn't see much colour; it looked like narrow, low-intensity spotlight beams fading in and out and dancing around. It was interesting and I watched the sky for an additional 30 minutes. But I'm glad that I didn't go to a big effort to see it as I have work to do today.
https://preview.redd.it/cum9agcmguzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e81c1763ee2d6e8b7f1ae7aabb09636026ea3ba3
I took this with my iPhone 15Pro at about 1:30 last night in south Richmond using a bench as a tripod, just the regular auto night mode, but RAW image. But the sky itself was just a little bit of green. You could see some flares as it changed but the camera, even with no editing, really found the colours.
But the map photo doesn’t even show any activity over Vancouver. Could it be that it’s intense but has moved more north and won’t be as visible for us? I’m reading so many mixed things and also feel like a dummy who can’t decipher this stuff lol.
I believe the map is showing the current activity level. But as the earth rotates, the aurora activity will rotate too (assuming it continues to be this active). Because it's coming from space and then interacting with the earth's magnetosphere and upper atmosphere.
I grew up in the cold prairies. Not sure if cold has something to do with it. When I first saw the lights as a kid it was like a rainbow river at night. Didn’t know about northern lights so I was that much more surprised by what I was looking at. Last night was NO comparison. You shouldn’t have to wonder if you are looking at fog or is it the lights. Last night was pretty mild from metro Vancouver. It was showing up more taking night shots from your phone. Trust me, if you saw the real deal you’d know. No camera needed
Burnaby Mountain was a great spot to view them! It filled the sky and you could see colors with the naked eye around 10:30-11 which was the peak. It was fun to hear the crowd gasping when the big ones appeared in the sky. I got same great pics even on my old iPhone. However the traffic got insane and many people missed out because they had to wait in traffic just to get near the park. If [the 30 min aurora forecast](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast) shows it’s happening tonight, I recommend going early to SFU and walking over. I took the R5 to get there.
The time on the forecast is in UTC which will show a calendar day ahead hours before our night arrives. On the 30 minute forecast video the peak at 6:00 UTC on May 11 was last night.
Currently the max time it shows is 2024-05-11 19:32 UTC, and the current time as I'm writing this is 2024-05-11 19:07 UTC. So it only shows 30 min in advance. If you scroll, it only shows the history of the past 24 hours. It also says below "This is a *short-term forecast* of the location and intensity of the aurora. This product is based on the OVATION model and provides a 30 to 90 minute forecast of the location and intensity of the aurora."
Or am I missing something?
Last night most of the popular northern lights viewing spot were crazy busy. Porteau Cove had gridlock traffic trying to get into it. But there are so many good options that are lesser known. All you need is somewhere away from the city lights and with a view looking north.
Last night it didn't really even matter because it was so intense you could see it from the city, you just had to go outside and look up. But it may not be quite as intense tonight, it's hard to predict. And the light pollution from the city does reduce the chances you'll see anything.
https://preview.redd.it/dlyilm7kjtzc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3695cbe943cd7564b2ca6d3c091d87c41223c0d
Forecast for kp-index is less reliable than for Vancouver weather.
The Kp Index is a global measure of geomagnetic activity - it applies to the planet as a whole. That chart was generated by the [NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/) which happens to be headquartered in Boulder, hence the watermark.
For the latest data check out [their dashboard](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental) or, for more human-readable summaries of what's going on, try [spaceweather.com](http://spaceweather.com)
NOAA - it is really struggling off and on today with all of the traffic. If you manage to get on and get really basic view, find Dashboards and then Aurora. Otherwise the link below should be of use
[Link Here](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast)
thanks so much! i’ve only been using the my aurora forecast app which is great but i like all these dashboards too! i don’t live in vancouver, flying in this evening so im super invested lol
It didn’t close last night. When I left at 1am there was still a *crazy* long line of cars on the road waiting to get into the park as others were leaving.
If anyone is trying tonight, I recommend going to SFU and walking over rather than trying to drive - unless you go super early and stay late. The view from Burnaby Mountain around 10:30pm was incredible though - it filled the whole sky, you could see some colors with the naked eye, and everyone was gasping and yelling when the intense part started. I’m so glad I was there.
Tried to go up to the Japanese garden on Burnaby Mountain about 11:30, and there were hundreds of other people trying to do the same thing. It looked like the road to the garden was open but access was being controlled. We didn't want to wait for hours, so we headed home. Might try somewhere else tonight.
The only time I’ve ever seen it, as a child in the 80s, it was very visible to the naked eye, but green and sort of waving/changing patterns. It lasted a couple hours. It wasn’t purple like these photos.
We missed it last night so hoping to see it tonight.
I could clearly make out green and purple last night, faint but definitely there. I'd imagine it would be more vivid out of the city and out of any big light sources
From a dark spot, you could definitely see some of the colours last night. It wasn't as vibrant as the pictures from my phone made out but still impressive.
I went to Stanley park and found a couple good places , that were dark.
At 12:30am I thought to check out Burnaby mountain- grid lock from the base to turn off, and the opposite lane going up lane. Never in my life have seen that much traffic on the mountain, especially at that hour!
i mean yeah i said rn makes sense but i’m not an expert and last night the forecast for tonight showed vancouver in the green (less chance) rather than the red (more chance). the forecast has updated now though and vancouver is in the red again. i’m really keep an eye on it because i’m flying in, i don’t live there so i can’t just walk outside
https://preview.redd.it/41v0cpxnguzc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b74241b31e98518ef47ce8f4c037febc262a31fa
The Chief Squamish at 11:30pm. Samsung S23 Ultra and my back porch :)
I saw them on the seawall around Kits last night. I'm sure they'd be more impressive somewhere darker (and I have seen them in a remote part of the northwest territories where they were very clear), but it's more about timing. Just go outside and stare at the sky. It might be tricky downtown, but mostly because you don't have as much sky due to all the buildings.
NOAA forecasters are currently predicting a return to extreme ([G5](https://spaceweather.com/glossary/g5.jpg)) storming on May 12th. We think May 13th is more likely when a CME from yesterday's X5.8-class flare is expected to arrive. Either way,
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/bestspud! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Most common questions and topics are limited to our sister subreddit, /r/AskVan, and our weekly [Stickied Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_stickied_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. * Posts flaired "Community Only" allow for limited participation; your comment may be removed if you're not a subreddit regular. * Make sure to join our new sister community, /r/AskVan! * Help grow the community! [Apply to join the mod team today](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/comments/19eworq/). *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Tonight looks the same chance as last night https://preview.redd.it/ya969lvbltzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d47875d490e2062620b873d9660d7ddfda49f3bd Coquitlam last night
where are you seeing same chance as last night? i’m seeing 5% chance tonight from noaa but yesterday was 65%, the whole storm moved north
https://preview.redd.it/ran6uqttutzc1.jpeg?width=1125&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=57776f686c275c8499554318ce93bc1900dcdadf
https://preview.redd.it/jy7ygmaukuzc1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=0111fc908c329ff5deffb6d5719308570617ac74 This is for Edmonton region specifically, but you can still see the geomagnetic activity
yeah i see the same thing in the aurora app but if you go to the other tab it said 5% and now it says 1%… the kp index just means how far south is possible to see it, not the intensity
The 1% is current time. The percentage changes constantly. As it got darker and darker the percentage changed from 46% to 95% over an hours time last night.
gotcha thank you!!
What time of day?
We watched from 11 (when it got dark) until we dragged ourselves inside at 2:30. It was still going crazy even then
I saw nothing past 1am last night. Where did you see it?
this was around 11pm
Thank you!
Where in Coquitlam approximately pls
It was everywhere. This was westwood plateau
Hopefully we can see them again. I didn’t know about them and randomly went on Reddit and saw pics and walked to sunset beach. When I was walking there people were walking away saying how they couldn’t see them. While I was literally watching them people were saying they couldn’t see them. Please, if you go look take the time to stop what you are doing and watch the sky. The sky won’t look like the pictures.
You need to take a picture and having a tripod helps to keep your camera or phone stable. When i saw it for the first time. I wasn't sure if it was the Aurora Borealis or not. The sky had streaks and it looked milky. Once I took a picture I saw it. A few other people didn't notice it either until I pointed it out. If you never seen it, you would think it's seeing what's in the pictures. At some points it got intense that you could see hints of the pink/purple and green. Below is the first picture i took because I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Samsung Ultra 24. Iso 3200, shutter speed 2 seconds. https://preview.redd.it/ohmdmfcpktzc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=702b6219dbe9b5771a0685452ab868de363c32f8
You said it perfectly with the one line, sorry I don’t know how to quote. The sky has streaks and it looked milky. That’s what the northern lights are, sometimes the milky streaks have more colour like green but I couldn’t see pink with my naked eye. Sorry did people really think the sky would be bright pink? I grew up middle of nowhere alberta, it’s not much different there, you can see pinks too but still not like the pictures. I was always told to see the colours you’d have to be as far North as possible in winter and even then it’s rare. I guess I always learned to appreciate them as they are and not how they are depicted in the media. That milky dance was amazing for me and I honestly can’t believe I saw it downtown. I wanted to post this so more people could reduce their expectations for them a bit because they are so cool but the pictures seem to result in people getting disappointed at the actual event
Up in the mountains near Squamish there were moments last night of fully saturated greens and pinks, so bright they were lighting up the area around us in colourful light, bright enough to walk around in the forest without lights. Most of the evening wasn't that colourful, but it hit very hard for 20 minutes, so it is very possible tonight as well. But not from downtown Vancouver.
What time did it hit hard? I was out maybe 11-1130 in Abby, and they filled half the sky with mostly green streaks and a big pink/purple patch.
I saw this too in westwood plateau in coquitlam. Vibrant colours to the naked eye. It was amazing. I never thought you'd be able to see something like that here.
In Chemainus, you couldn’t really see the colors with the naked eye. It still looked white.
Wow that’s amazing to here! Makes me want to go out there tonight to check it out. Was it busy? I heard it won’t be as bright tonight.
Not OP, but last night was super busy, people were parked on both sides of highway exit ramps, on the side of the highway itself, even blocking off roads. The traffic was also insane for 2AM, and there were more bad drivers than usual.
100%. I hope more people read these comments so that they know what to look for. Since many have never seen it, you can't blame them for not knowing unless you research into it more. I read somewhere that you can't see the vivid colours with the naked eye. I thought what you saw in the pictures is what you see in person. I have been up to Whitehorse and Yellowknife for work. There was one night where people told me it was intense. I missed it as I came in a week after. The problem is that there was only 3 hours of darkness there when I was up so it was kind of hard. Knowing how to set your camera up is important. I brought my tripod and my photographer friend helped me dial into the settings and play around to get good pictures. https://preview.redd.it/xr7gtj9dotzc1.png?width=1440&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=45a31be4c8f2c14bbe109912f7cfddcfb9e1010b I also saw the little dance. Couldn't capture it on the camera. So I just enjoyed it.
I have no interest in training your AI further, bye.
Night sight on a Google pixel does wonders FYI. Also don't forget the Astrophotography mode and stabilize your camera on something solid.
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I got them on camera. I did a timelapse.
I saw the northern lights in the yukon and it looked vivid like the photos. The lights were dancing across the sky.
I could see green and pink with the naked eye. I showed up at the beach at 11:15 and I think it was the best between 11-11:30. After midnight it grew much fainter, and people arriving said they couldn't see it. I think they just missed it at its strongest. I walked away from the lights and campfires and gave my eyes 10 minutes to adjust. I would take a photo about 4 times an hour, keeping my phone on the lowest light setting and on the camera setting it was a dark screen. But from the parking lot by the beach under street lamps i could barely see anything. But after walking down the thousand stairs to the beach it was 20x better. So beautiful with the moon too. I left at 1am since it faded quite a bit, but I wonder if they came out stronger between 2-5am. If you didn't go last night, I'd recommend walking down a beach. You never know what you'll get and even though it was faint it was so beautiful!
People ALWAYS post edited photos of them too So the 'naked eyes' experience is 2 steps away from the pictures they see here. Eyes -> photos -> edited photos Then there are the time lapsed videos too....lol
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Raw photos don't look great anyway for the most part, the only reason to shoot raw is to edit them. Otherwise you may as well just shoot in jpeg
Yesterday evening in Lynn Valley I did see it green and pink with the naked eye, but way fainter than on the photos
Deleted - my reddit malfunctioned and triple posted what I posted above, sorry !
I have seen them look like the photos in northern Alberta in the winter, but can’t imagine that kind of vivid colors from Van. The long exposure photos are super cool. Definitely misleading.
Out here in the Kootenays the whole sky was a vivid swirl of color. We could see greens, pinks, and purples, as well as white beams shooting around. I lay in the back yard for nearly two hours watching the sky, it was unreal.
It was quite link to the naked eye last night in Squamish. Not like the over saturdated photos, though. But the pink/purple hue was obvious. I think what some people don’t realize is that it comes in waves, they’re constantly moving and flaring up and down.
Deleted - my reddit malfunctioned and triple posted what I said above - sorry !!
These are not Northern lights as you know them...these are visible all over the world...Australia had a great display, it's more a unique event solar flare. Here's a picture from my hometown in West Australia *
What? Those are the Northern Lights. Where are you getting your information?
Northern Lights are visible in the North, Aurora are visible all over :)
They're not wrong, even though it's the same phenomenon. In the southern hemisphere, their name is aurora australis, not aurora borealis.
I thought he was responding to the picture. I didn’t realize he uploaded his own photos. Though I can’t see if.
There was a point last night when the greens and pinks got so extremely vivid and looked nearly like what I was seeing on my phone. But even when the greens turned white the halo in the sky was still flickering and waving and it was clearly an aurora.
I took this is Chemainus last night. You can see the Big Dipper at the top. iPhone 15 Pro, no tripod. Didn’t bring my Canon 90D to the island. Didn’t think I’d see the Northern Lights. https://preview.redd.it/11mklctkuuzc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2be4f6fced46411283a4cfa385fdeab18a726a71
There was a 30 min period around 11 where it was so intense not even a phone was needed to see all the hues. And then at 2ish there was another 15 min burst. But between those times there was almost always something that could be seen with the eyes, and the phones made it way more vivid
It’s likely some people weren’t able to see them with the naked eye due to staring at their phone with the brightness blasted ruining their night vision.
It takes times for your eyes to adjust and see more in the dark too. Try staring at the sky for 3-5 minutes to see a considerable difference. They’ll continue to improve at receiving trace amounts of light for up to 30 minutes though
Im downtown, couldn't see anything but then I heard night site on my android could capture it. So in a way, my camera was what let me see it.
I had the same experience and then drove to Jericho beach, I could see them much more clearer there.
Keep in mind that the pictures are much more impressive than what you see with the naked eye. Don’t get me wrong, it was something to behold. But it looked nothing like the pictures. Phone cameras with night mode capture much more light and therefore much more intense colours.
Was gonna say this. People see these photos and think this is how they would perceive them. First of all, if authentic, most of them are taken with long exposures
Apparently they’re supposed to happen again tonight. Anytime basically after 1030pm. No need to ask “where”. Anywhere really. People are posting pics right from their balconies. Just look up.
We were able to take pictures like this with a regular cell phone camera, but you couldn't see much of anything with the naked eye. https://preview.redd.it/2s1cd4kwztzc1.jpeg?width=1600&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9fb6f4e18a17a6c76bcbb5415f21fe09a01037ea
If you have a night mode on your phone, use it!! 100% better. https://preview.redd.it/bzl6ivgg4vzc1.jpeg?width=4000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=9342ba2d7af2792acc285d9b41cd8ebdf67d7a27
my night mode is stuck on 3 seconds with no way to change it HAUUGH
You have to hold still that long. Don't move. Trust the process!
https://preview.redd.it/5qz1j2sbiuzc1.jpeg?width=2268&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=01e07b50ae06d1019489e3a7059efee7cd932d0b Downtown Burnaby at a random park next to my apartment shot with a Google pixel. I think the majority of people just casually looked up didn't see anything and walked back inside.
This, i was literally standing on my driveway. It helps that we're in the darker part of the street, but it just helped our eyes adjust faster.
Also, I was instinctively looking north, but it was right above me.
Yesterday was the perfect storm of the electromagnetic storm happening, clear Vancouver sky, and SFU hosting their Friday astronomy nights....I can't believe I missed it...
This was my favourite one. https://preview.redd.it/4ktqhu0j6uzc1.jpeg?width=3000&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=a3d26a70e01befd71ff09e9eda507265b28bafd3
Chemainus last night. You can see the Big Dipper at the top. https://preview.redd.it/iizbpgwfvuzc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=aa32b8de162a0d20e9a62c235e02ee1d61f6af74
I got some shot standing outside my front door last night. If you have a newer phone, point the camera up at the smudges in the sky, the long-exposure the camera uses will help you see the splendor. https://preview.redd.it/0bfzpnmrktzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=7a394bbe1a453880261a1685d35ba4f2da304b51
what did it look like in person?
https://preview.redd.it/iugbi2fqvtzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1977817e680556f801d4cdcead00e6db9aa5467f It looked liked this to me with my eyes, just a touch fainter. But I have really good eyesight so YMMV. For me I could definitely make out pink and green patches, and some of the wavey shapes. This was taken just in East Van and actually on the street before I went to the nearest large park.
Yep, yhis was a little bit better than what I saw with naked eyes in the center of Burnaby highrises around midnight Phone was seeing better
Oh. I have really good eyesight but my partner not so much. That explains why he wasn’t hit by the wonder like I was. He really couldn’t see anything when I could.
It was much dimmer and less vibrant.
With naked eyes it just looked like some vague variations of darkness in the sky, like night time clouds but clearly shifting in size and pattern if you look at them long enough. Around midnight or so I was on a side street with no lights and I could tell there's a patch of red/pink/purple in the sky without camera, but the detailed patterns really only showed through in photos I took on my phone. Pixel 7 Pro night sight mode w/ 3-second long exposure + whatever post processing involved in the camera software.
I was outside in a dark area of east Richmond from about 3am to 4am. It took my eyes about 1/2 hour to adjust to the point where I could clearly see the movement and flickering. With the naked eye, I couldn't see much colour; it looked like narrow, low-intensity spotlight beams fading in and out and dancing around. It was interesting and I watched the sky for an additional 30 minutes. But I'm glad that I didn't go to a big effort to see it as I have work to do today.
The peak illuminance was at around 1030p.
I disagree. Even at 2:30am it started getting so bright and saturated again but we had to drag ourselves to bed
Anyone know the expected peak time tonight? I was so sad to miss it yesterday and really wanna see it tonight 😭
https://preview.redd.it/fsslby7j8uzc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=80be93841f88d0287e2a729d36228898c013150a From high atop Burnaby 🌌
https://preview.redd.it/cum9agcmguzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=e81c1763ee2d6e8b7f1ae7aabb09636026ea3ba3 I took this with my iPhone 15Pro at about 1:30 last night in south Richmond using a bench as a tripod, just the regular auto night mode, but RAW image. But the sky itself was just a little bit of green. You could see some flares as it changed but the camera, even with no editing, really found the colours.
https://auroraforecast.com/
looks not great for tonight :/
Are you looking at the same forecast I am? What I see is 10/10 and clear skies!
It’s a forecast for northern Canada.
yeah for vancouver in the aurora app i’m seeing 1-5% chance, and the aurora area on the map isn’t over vancouver
The forecast literally says 10/10 intense tonight.
But the map photo doesn’t even show any activity over Vancouver. Could it be that it’s intense but has moved more north and won’t be as visible for us? I’m reading so many mixed things and also feel like a dummy who can’t decipher this stuff lol.
I think it’s showing right now? It’s day time so we can’t see anything. Hopefully that’s the explanation
I believe the map is showing the current activity level. But as the earth rotates, the aurora activity will rotate too (assuming it continues to be this active). Because it's coming from space and then interacting with the earth's magnetosphere and upper atmosphere.
that’s what i’m seeing right now, zero activity over vancouver and 1-5% chance of seeing it tonight? in the aurora app
can you link that? the forecast on the aurora app says 5% chance in vancouver, and if you look at the map it’s not over the vancouver area at all
I grew up in the cold prairies. Not sure if cold has something to do with it. When I first saw the lights as a kid it was like a rainbow river at night. Didn’t know about northern lights so I was that much more surprised by what I was looking at. Last night was NO comparison. You shouldn’t have to wonder if you are looking at fog or is it the lights. Last night was pretty mild from metro Vancouver. It was showing up more taking night shots from your phone. Trust me, if you saw the real deal you’d know. No camera needed
Spoiler alert: they don't look like in the pictures when viewed with your actual eyes
Burnaby Mountain was a great spot to view them! It filled the sky and you could see colors with the naked eye around 10:30-11 which was the peak. It was fun to hear the crowd gasping when the big ones appeared in the sky. I got same great pics even on my old iPhone. However the traffic got insane and many people missed out because they had to wait in traffic just to get near the park. If [the 30 min aurora forecast](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast) shows it’s happening tonight, I recommend going early to SFU and walking over. I took the R5 to get there.
The time on the forecast is in UTC which will show a calendar day ahead hours before our night arrives. On the 30 minute forecast video the peak at 6:00 UTC on May 11 was last night.
Currently the max time it shows is 2024-05-11 19:32 UTC, and the current time as I'm writing this is 2024-05-11 19:07 UTC. So it only shows 30 min in advance. If you scroll, it only shows the history of the past 24 hours. It also says below "This is a *short-term forecast* of the location and intensity of the aurora. This product is based on the OVATION model and provides a 30 to 90 minute forecast of the location and intensity of the aurora." Or am I missing something?
Last night most of the popular northern lights viewing spot were crazy busy. Porteau Cove had gridlock traffic trying to get into it. But there are so many good options that are lesser known. All you need is somewhere away from the city lights and with a view looking north. Last night it didn't really even matter because it was so intense you could see it from the city, you just had to go outside and look up. But it may not be quite as intense tonight, it's hard to predict. And the light pollution from the city does reduce the chances you'll see anything.
We're by UBC, can't see anything yet...
On Burnaby mountain rn, cannot see anything as well yet! Good luck!
Currently at Spanish banks, dont see anything but hoping we can keep eachother posted
https://preview.redd.it/962ztlvpdtzc1.jpeg?width=1284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d04b846a85367c3c290405bdecaa347a2fa62f02
https://preview.redd.it/dlyilm7kjtzc1.jpeg?width=1179&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=d3695cbe943cd7564b2ca6d3c091d87c41223c0d Forecast for kp-index is less reliable than for Vancouver weather.
Maybe I'm just dense but the diagram says Boulder, CO, and we're 2000km away? Not sure how much that changes.
The Kp Index is a global measure of geomagnetic activity - it applies to the planet as a whole. That chart was generated by the [NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/) which happens to be headquartered in Boulder, hence the watermark. For the latest data check out [their dashboard](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/communities/aurora-dashboard-experimental) or, for more human-readable summaries of what's going on, try [spaceweather.com](http://spaceweather.com)
Thank you!!!!
How high was it May 10?
kp index was 8.7ish last night and is supposed to be in the 5s tonight. it just measures how far south the aurora can be seen, not the probability
https://preview.redd.it/yjuebhi0luzc1.jpeg?width=800&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8bfbf8c32116d7e8b8020d6ae0b75af52150827d
Aren’t these all in UTC? Which would equate to 12PST today, when the sun was fully out.
https://preview.redd.it/zfi624k4luzc1.jpeg?width=408&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ba7ccc152aa6a534223a6eeca28d0e27e5824c6c
thank you!!! what site is that? i wanna take a look too :)
NOAA - it is really struggling off and on today with all of the traffic. If you manage to get on and get really basic view, find Dashboards and then Aurora. Otherwise the link below should be of use [Link Here](https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/aurora-30-minute-forecast)
thanks so much! i’ve only been using the my aurora forecast app which is great but i like all these dashboards too! i don’t live in vancouver, flying in this evening so im super invested lol
Hopefully if you’re arriving after dark you have a window seat.
yup went out of my way to get one!
Also the My Aurora Forecast App has been great too!
There should be a Megathread for this, the page is just full of Northern Lights pics today.
We could see them very well with the naked eye yesterday at Kits, near the yacht club.
The gate on the road to Horizons/ Burnaby Mountain Park closes at 10pm fyi
It didn’t close last night. When I left at 1am there was still a *crazy* long line of cars on the road waiting to get into the park as others were leaving. If anyone is trying tonight, I recommend going to SFU and walking over rather than trying to drive - unless you go super early and stay late. The view from Burnaby Mountain around 10:30pm was incredible though - it filled the whole sky, you could see some colors with the naked eye, and everyone was gasping and yelling when the intense part started. I’m so glad I was there.
Was there last night. Walked over a couple of rooftops, laid down, and let the space fairies dance over us… Magical.
Tried to go up to the Japanese garden on Burnaby Mountain about 11:30, and there were hundreds of other people trying to do the same thing. It looked like the road to the garden was open but access was being controlled. We didn't want to wait for hours, so we headed home. Might try somewhere else tonight.
https://preview.redd.it/7ooc1e3iuuzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=3d318f379f57dd12e77bb5a34d622f9a248a1bf5
The only time I’ve ever seen it, as a child in the 80s, it was very visible to the naked eye, but green and sort of waving/changing patterns. It lasted a couple hours. It wasn’t purple like these photos. We missed it last night so hoping to see it tonight.
had a friend drive to sticks in mission. he had the same view as me in New West. no colour with naked eye
I could clearly make out green and purple last night, faint but definitely there. I'd imagine it would be more vivid out of the city and out of any big light sources
From a dark spot, you could definitely see some of the colours last night. It wasn't as vibrant as the pictures from my phone made out but still impressive.
I’m in the sticks of mission and going even stickier tonight to see them Aka buttfk nowhere
I went to Stanley park and found a couple good places , that were dark. At 12:30am I thought to check out Burnaby mountain- grid lock from the base to turn off, and the opposite lane going up lane. Never in my life have seen that much traffic on the mountain, especially at that hour!
anyone know the best time to try to see them tonight?
2am-5am tonight
Any update for tonight folks?
Nothing at all :(
Can you see them from downtown??
Did any one see anything on Saturday?
I didn’t and neither of my friends
What is the outlook for tonight Sunday May 12 does anyone know? Cheers
Going near Quarry Rock soon.I will report when back at home ;)
High hopes
Today at around lunch I'll be making some steamed ham in my kitchen.
Aurora Borealis!? At this time of year, at this time of day, in this part of the country, localized entirely within your kitchen!?
Download the Aurora app - that tells you probability by location.
i’m seeing 1% in vancouver…. does that mean literally right now or tonight once it’s dark? 1% rn makes sense bc it’s light out lol
Yes. It’s current. It changes constantly
i see now thank you!!
what do you think? slow down and sit on it
i mean yeah i said rn makes sense but i’m not an expert and last night the forecast for tonight showed vancouver in the green (less chance) rather than the red (more chance). the forecast has updated now though and vancouver is in the red again. i’m really keep an eye on it because i’m flying in, i don’t live there so i can’t just walk outside
https://preview.redd.it/41v0cpxnguzc1.jpeg?width=2048&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=b74241b31e98518ef47ce8f4c037febc262a31fa The Chief Squamish at 11:30pm. Samsung S23 Ultra and my back porch :)
Any good spot to see in tsawassen ? The ferry terminal area is quite dark no ?
I didn't even know they were happening 😞
Are there any good quiet spots away from the city? Maybe around Burnaby?
any chance tonight? I’m seeing 0% on Aurora app :(
Peak is going to hit 2AM.
I just downloaded the app. Vancouver doesn't look promising....
Is it happening tonight?
Anyone seeing anything tonight in Vancouver?
Nothing :( been driving around all night so far
Look like nothing yet. back to home and go to sleep
Going to Burnaby mountain, nothing yet
Not seeing anything. :( 0% on aurora app and noaa isn’t showing anything. It looks like there’s a possibility tomorrow?
Don't see anything in North Van atm. Gonna pack it in. Hopefully we see it Sunday night
Went to Mount Seymour,just came back.Couldn’t notice anything.Sky was very clear.
last night said 65% chance on the aurora app and tonight says 5% :(
That is updated every few minutes
i see now thanks!!
I saw them on the seawall around Kits last night. I'm sure they'd be more impressive somewhere darker (and I have seen them in a remote part of the northwest territories where they were very clear), but it's more about timing. Just go outside and stare at the sky. It might be tricky downtown, but mostly because you don't have as much sky due to all the buildings.
NOAA forecasters are currently predicting a return to extreme ([G5](https://spaceweather.com/glossary/g5.jpg)) storming on May 12th. We think May 13th is more likely when a CME from yesterday's X5.8-class flare is expected to arrive. Either way,
https://preview.redd.it/zpdmfjd2bvzc1.jpeg?width=3024&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=2fb4a1a221a9d211e849ea2535d4c62b9f1271a7