auroral dsiplay

Ton Spaninks en Ellemarie van Laanen Apr 8, 2000

dear guide-users
 
I viewed the auroral light this evening (6 april 2000, 19.30 to 22.30 UT).
 
At 19.30 I looked outside and saw a faint reddish glow in the northeast horizon. I hurried up the stairs to view the phenomena from the balcony and the glow brightened. I travelled to a darker site where I arrived 5 minutes late to shoot very bright lanes in the east and northwest part of the sky (this was at about 21.45 UT). After this time the reddish glow almost reached the zenit and was visible as a red lane of light from the eastern to the western horizon. The red glow was clearly visible higher then Gemini. After this a greenish glow covered the northern horizon from the northwest until the northeast and brightened. It reached a height of about 30 degrees. Cassiopeia was total in the green glow. After 21.30 the phenomena fainted to just visible brightness. At 22.30 the glow was invisible from my home.
Additional report auroral lights above Tilburg
 
Later this night (in the night 6/7 april 2000) the auroral lights above Tilburg (the Netherlands) came to even a higher level then in the evening of 6 april. Now, between 23.30 and 0.30 UT, the lights appeared in south southwest and somewhat further then the zenit. Many rays, red en white, big red glowing cloudlike hazes en greenish light, sometimes even white above the northern horizon. I fell asleep and sometimes when I woke up the reddish haze was still visible. Even around 3 UT. This auroral display was maybe even more beautiful then on march 13, 1989. After that dusk.
 
Ton Spaninks
observatory de Tiendesprong
Gen. de Wetstraat 31
NL-5021 TK Tilburg
the Netherlands
tonel@...