• Thursday-What'sUP August 12 - 10:03 pm

Some folks call it Aurora Borealils, others simply say Northern Lights, but whatever name you use, this night light display by Mother Nature, is something to see. Steve Brimm captured some prime examples of the show you can see when conditions are right and there's no glare from the city lights. In this instance, Steve chose one of the best viewing locations ever… atop Brockway Mountain, near Copper Harbor. I've never seen them from there myself, but I imagine it must feel like you can reach out and touch the lighted sky from right where you're standing. In the final scene, Jeremy Rowe caught the same Northern Lights at Cedar Bay, a little closer to Lake level. If you're out and about in the dark of the evening, here UP North, be sure to look skyward and you might be lucky enough to catch them dancing across the sky yourself.

Good morning friends!

Has anyone seen them the last week or so? We are now back into a 'quiet' period....

Tonight is supposed to be the start of high activity for the meteor shower ~ always hope for clear skies for that!

So many reasons to get away from the city!

What a sight to see!

The first time I saw the Northern Lights, we were on one of our many January snowmobile vacations in the U.P. We had supper at the Mariner and were walking back to our room at the King Copper, and there was the most spectacular Northern Lights show performing over Lake Superior! Really made a wonderful end to a wonderful day!

Space Weather News for August 12, 2010
>http://spaceweather.com
>
>PERSEID METEOR SHOWER: The annual Perseid meteor shower is underway.
>Earth is passing through a wide stream of debris from Comet Swift-Tuttle,
>and each time a fleck of comet dust hits Earth's atmosphere--flash!--there
>is a meteor. Forecasters say the shower will peak on Thursday, August
>12th, and Friday, August 13th. You can see Perseids flitting across the
>sky at any time between about 10 pm on Thursday evening and sunrise on
>Friday morning. Observers who get away from city lights can expect to
>count dozens of meteors per hour, especially during the dark hours before dawn.
>
>Tune into http://spaceweather.com for full coverage of the shower,
>including a live meteor radar, a "fireball cam," updated meteor counts and
>pictures from around the world.
>
>BONUS: If you go outside a little early on Thursday evening, around
>sunset, you'll see a beautiful gathering of planets in the sunset
>sky--Venus, Mars, Saturn and the crescent Moon. It's a nice way to start
>a meteor watch. Sky maps may be found at http://spaceweather.com.
>
>LOOKING FOR THE INTERNATIONAL SPACE STATION? Your cell phone can lead you
>right to it. Check out our field-tested satellite tracker for the iPhone
>and Android at http://simpleflybys.com.

>New subscribers may sign up for free space weather alerts
>at http://spaceweather.com/services/ .
>
Can't see the lights here in Baraga. The lights from the prison and the ca-sino stop it all. Sniff.

BEAUTIFUL pics!

http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/astropix.html

And yet another link!

Wonderful photos! I have been hoping that someone would post photos from the recent activity of the Northern Lights! I especially like the one from Cedar Bay. Where is Cedar Bay, by the way? Somehow, I have managed to miss that one, or I may know it by another name, or something. Thank you! :-)

Beautiful pictures. The Northern Lights can be quite amazing.

Great picture of Northern Lights with the "Big Dipper".

We would always go to Bumbleville hill to watch the falling stars when we lived in Calumet. The boys would lay on the hood of our car and just watch them come down. The youngest, who was quite young at the time, would try counting them as he saw them fall; he only could count to ten. He would sound like a broken record. I know I really enjoyed seeing the stars when I was home the last two weeks; here in Lansing you have the city glare and the clouds blocking them. Have a great day everyone!

In August, when we lived in Calumet, we would go to Bumbletown hill to watch the falling stars. My two boys would lie on a blanket on the hood of the car and watch them come down. My youngest son, who was quite young at the time, would count them out loud; he could only count to ten. He reminded us of a needle stuck on a broken record; we would laugh when he got to ten, because we knew he would start all over again.

When I was home the last two weeks, I really enjoyed sitting outside and looking at the stars. Here in Lansing, I am not able to see them very often due to the clouds or the city glare. Have a wonderful day everyone!

Very cool!

Beautiful Northern lights pix; I assume the Cedar Bay reference is really Sedar Bay?

"Many" years ago when we walked home from the White Pine ice rink the northern lights would light up the night. With the white snow it was very easy to see rather far distances. When the moon was out there was an eerie light to everything. It was so "bright" that you could drive with headlights off for a bit. That kind of thing came later when I could drive------parents were never told that!!!

Tom I see in your profile that you are from Green Bay. Any detours etc. that I need to beware of as I travel from the CC in late Sept. Going to visit friends in Door Co.

Dr. Nat and I saw a nice display of the "Lights" on the ferry back from Newfoundland last week. Today, we are sitting in The Hut as I'm writing this, our Keweenaw excursion coming to an end. We will definitely be heading out to Calumet Waterworks tonight to see the meteor shower and possibly the lights, if they are out....

What beautiful pictures of God's 'light show'! I agree with you, Matt, that one with the Big Dipper is amazing! Very unusual form of light. I remember, as a child, being scared of the Northern Lights....but then again, I was afraid of everything and anything unusual. Maybe it had something to do with being a small child during WWII, when we had 'blackouts'! My mom eventually put up green shades so we wouldn't have to turn off all the lights. Ah, memories....

Beautiful, wanted to go up there last week when there was high activity but didn't do it. Will try not to fall asleep in the lawn chair this year for the meteor shower.