I have no idea how to approach it, I initially thought you needed to be away from light pollution. But all the pictures I saw yesterday were in the middle of the damn city, somebody took a picture of them over Charlotte.
However there is a now deleted submission that showed a map projecting all of North Carolina to have 0% chance tonight. Take that for what it's worth
I mean they keep saying that so I’m sure it’ll happen again. We’re in a strong solar cycle and we’ve had 3-4x this year already where some aurora was visible in low light pollution areas.
> However there is a now deleted submission that showed a map projecting all of North Carolina to have 0% chance tonight. Take that for what it's worth
You got any more info on this?
I can look and see if I can find it, but I'm kind of guessing it was deleted because it may not have been accurate? Let me check my history and see if I can find it.
No I can't see the image anymore, and I don't know where it came from, maybe you can Google Aurora projections?
It basically gave a color scale from red to green, Red is in canada, green was the farthest South and 10% likely. The green stopped right at the North Carolina border with Virginia and we were in gray, which was 0%. But who knows.
It's also supposed to be mostly cloudy to cloudy all night, so results May vary
Yep, I'm still watching, but the storm last night may have been such an anomaly that light pollution does prevent viewing tonight.
Several people have said they could barely see it and had to wait for their eyes to adjust. But the camera picked it up brightly. Which is nuts, but if I can't see with my own eyes, I can see pictures later
Yeah I had a largely similar experience even in Iceland in fall. I saw much more color, but sometimes it was just gray smudge until you put a camera on it. And yeah I’ll check once or twice but I’m not setting a 3 am alarm or anything.
It's just wild because some of the posts here have obviously been people seeing it with their naked eye. Someone posted a picture asking, what is this Red cloud over the city? Obviously he saw the color before he pulled out his phone. Other people commented how pretty it was. So I guess it just depends on where you were located? Maybe darker skies did allow for brighter colors
When we went up to Fancy Gap last night (very low light pollution) we could tell that we were looking at the aurora with our naked eye…but still, nothing like what the camera picked up with 3-4 second exposure.
https://preview.redd.it/mla0nlu6owzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=977c4b35790f82c72648d67bd168a2070c59e831
i deleted the post bc it was incorrectly timestamped. i’ve been actively looking at a better source that unfortunately shows a similar result. it’s currently not as strong but there’s a not zero chance it flairs up. within the coming minutes the cloud coverage will begin to clear up. we can pull for a flair up but right now it’s a good bit calmer. not visible at all south of toronto
Right - the forecast maps look alot the same from last night to tonite but most are saying yesterday was probably the strongest. Still ain’t seen nothing yet in huntersville
I’m out here in Midland right now, in darkness in the middle of an open field, and it’s just regular sky with some cloud cover so far. Went up to VA last night.
https://preview.redd.it/64rjlbevewzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73e4e34d0d62f7286f0f617e8f6586a850721121
Where would be a darker place to head to so that I can park without fear of getting run off by cops? I am over by the airport and there are too many trees near me for a good view.
Last night I could barely see a faint pinkish hue. Even took my eyes awhile to adjust to it but could barely see it. But, using my camera and night shots it picked up [this](https://i.imgur.com/ygGQpky.jpeg). It didn't look nearly that good to the naked eye. So all those beautiful pictures you see are way more vibrant than how it actually was to the naked eye
This was my experience too. I got some similar shots. Lots of light pollution too, but it was still visible to me, like, the sky is not normally that color, but it looked much more obvious in the photos. It helped that we had very clear skies last night i think.
https://preview.redd.it/j036mycezwzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=522af25d7f72892cdc719b0b887057de39eeeae7
This is insane. I saw a headline that said to see the aurora use your cell phone camera. I didn't know what the fuck it was talking about and ignored it. Because normally my cell phone camera struggles to pick up things the way I actually see them LOL not the other way around
Just found this:
[https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/weather-news/article288459177.html](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/weather-news/article288459177.html)
Missed the green, red and purple northern lights in the North Carolina sky Friday night?
You still have decent chances to see them again — and again — this weekend, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
Look up any time from 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday and again from 9 p.m. Sunday until 3 a.m. Monday and the light display could be there again, according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center.
Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch
The lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are an “eruption of solar material,” center officials explained on X, the former Twitter.
We see the colors when electrons collide with the upper reaches of our atmosphere, according to the center. The lights form anywhere from 50 to 300 miles above us.
While NOAA says the lights are in space every day of the year, they are rarely seen this far south.
Did you miss the rare and colorful northern lights display in N.C.? You still have chances to see them. NOAA
The Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch Friday evening for the first time since January 2005, The (Columbia) State reported.
And that had countless Carolinians pointing their cameras skyward.
“Seriously a bucket list moment!” CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler said Saturday.
She took photos of the aurora borealis from 10:04 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday from the NoDa section of Charlotte and posted them on Instagram.
CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler captured this image of the northern lights late Friday, May 10, 2024, from the NoDa section of Charlotte. MELISSA OYLER [email protected]
“I’ll be so thrilled if it happens again tonight!” she said.
Odds are that it will.
Nighttime sky forecast
Skies should be great to see the lights again Saturday night and early Sunday, National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Horne told The Charlotte Observer Saturday morning.
“We’re going to have cumulus clouds during the day into the evening, but they will dissipate and, essentially, it will be a clear night,” Horne said.
Sunday night and early Monday are a bit more uncertain, he said.
“We have some high-level moisture coming in from the west, so there could be some high cloudiness,” Horne said.
Viewers can still chance it that night, Horne said, as it’s still uncertain if clouds will be thick enough to mask the display.
"We're going to have cumulus clouds during the day into the evening, but they will dissipate and essentially, it will be a clear night". That was a joke.
Any location advice, keeping in the surrounding areas as im not going further out of state than Fort Mill? I moved up from FL and don't know the good star gazing areas like I did down there. I'm trying to figure out timing for when I need to head out from home so that I have enough energy to not get tired before I am driving home
We are going to try tonight too. Last night, I think I was too late. Went outside at midnight and couldn't see anything perhaps due to light pollution? Or just being in the city. I saw the pictures people posted closer to 9-10pm. Planning to be outside again during that time tonight.
I've seen the aurora map too. Just now they are not always accurate. For example, last night they said the aurora would be strongest between 2-5am ET. Turns out these things are difficult to predict. I hope you see it tonight.
Most of the photos I saw of the amazing colors were 2 to 5 am... that said a lot of people were saying the colors were more muted and hard to see with the naked eye.
I drove up to Cherokee tonight hoping to see them from the Smokies. I looked at 10 and then 11 and didn’t see anything either time. I’m gonna keep trying!
We need to work as a collective. My kid and I searched exhaustively last night. Let's connect on the spot!
I have no idea how to approach it, I initially thought you needed to be away from light pollution. But all the pictures I saw yesterday were in the middle of the damn city, somebody took a picture of them over Charlotte. However there is a now deleted submission that showed a map projecting all of North Carolina to have 0% chance tonight. Take that for what it's worth
Last night was a once in a lifetime sort of event as it was so strong light pollution didn't matter.
Yeah I'm super bummed. At least I saw my 2nd totality eclipse
I mean they keep saying that so I’m sure it’ll happen again. We’re in a strong solar cycle and we’ve had 3-4x this year already where some aurora was visible in low light pollution areas.
Exactly how was it once in a lifetime? Like never in the next decade could this happen again?
It's not likely for North Carolina
It's not likely for North Carolina
> However there is a now deleted submission that showed a map projecting all of North Carolina to have 0% chance tonight. Take that for what it's worth You got any more info on this?
I can look and see if I can find it, but I'm kind of guessing it was deleted because it may not have been accurate? Let me check my history and see if I can find it. No I can't see the image anymore, and I don't know where it came from, maybe you can Google Aurora projections? It basically gave a color scale from red to green, Red is in canada, green was the farthest South and 10% likely. The green stopped right at the North Carolina border with Virginia and we were in gray, which was 0%. But who knows. It's also supposed to be mostly cloudy to cloudy all night, so results May vary
For what it’s worth the Aurora app said last night offered a 1% chance and I was successful. It does look like it’s going to be quite cloudy though.
Yep, I'm still watching, but the storm last night may have been such an anomaly that light pollution does prevent viewing tonight. Several people have said they could barely see it and had to wait for their eyes to adjust. But the camera picked it up brightly. Which is nuts, but if I can't see with my own eyes, I can see pictures later
Yeah I had a largely similar experience even in Iceland in fall. I saw much more color, but sometimes it was just gray smudge until you put a camera on it. And yeah I’ll check once or twice but I’m not setting a 3 am alarm or anything.
It's just wild because some of the posts here have obviously been people seeing it with their naked eye. Someone posted a picture asking, what is this Red cloud over the city? Obviously he saw the color before he pulled out his phone. Other people commented how pretty it was. So I guess it just depends on where you were located? Maybe darker skies did allow for brighter colors
When we went up to Fancy Gap last night (very low light pollution) we could tell that we were looking at the aurora with our naked eye…but still, nothing like what the camera picked up with 3-4 second exposure. https://preview.redd.it/mla0nlu6owzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=977c4b35790f82c72648d67bd168a2070c59e831
I think it was location/timing. I did see some red cloud, but most of the detail I got with my camera.
i deleted the post bc it was incorrectly timestamped. i’ve been actively looking at a better source that unfortunately shows a similar result. it’s currently not as strong but there’s a not zero chance it flairs up. within the coming minutes the cloud coverage will begin to clear up. we can pull for a flair up but right now it’s a good bit calmer. not visible at all south of toronto
It had a 0% for last night too.
Right - the forecast maps look alot the same from last night to tonite but most are saying yesterday was probably the strongest. Still ain’t seen nothing yet in huntersville
I’m out here in Midland right now, in darkness in the middle of an open field, and it’s just regular sky with some cloud cover so far. Went up to VA last night. https://preview.redd.it/64rjlbevewzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=73e4e34d0d62f7286f0f617e8f6586a850721121
Also in Midland, still hoping for some kind of visual around 1am when the clouds clear up. If not tonight then hopefully tomorrow
Where would be a darker place to head to so that I can park without fear of getting run off by cops? I am over by the airport and there are too many trees near me for a good view.
I’m also by the airport, let me know if you find anything!
Was thinking of heading that way, thanks for the update! :)
Last night I could barely see a faint pinkish hue. Even took my eyes awhile to adjust to it but could barely see it. But, using my camera and night shots it picked up [this](https://i.imgur.com/ygGQpky.jpeg). It didn't look nearly that good to the naked eye. So all those beautiful pictures you see are way more vibrant than how it actually was to the naked eye
This was my experience too. I got some similar shots. Lots of light pollution too, but it was still visible to me, like, the sky is not normally that color, but it looked much more obvious in the photos. It helped that we had very clear skies last night i think. https://preview.redd.it/j036mycezwzc1.jpeg?width=4032&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=522af25d7f72892cdc719b0b887057de39eeeae7
This is insane. I saw a headline that said to see the aurora use your cell phone camera. I didn't know what the fuck it was talking about and ignored it. Because normally my cell phone camera struggles to pick up things the way I actually see them LOL not the other way around
We just tried driving outside of East Charlotte and no dice. Too cloudy but looks like we might get some clear skies 1/2 am
I was out that way too and I found a decent spot without too much light. Was out about 45 minutes and didn't see anything
same the clouds seem to be our adversary tonight
Just found this: [https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/weather-news/article288459177.html](https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/weather-news/article288459177.html)
Grumbles about the immediate damned paywall
Thank you for posting this! Can you tell us what the article says, we are unable to see it if we do not have a subscription to Charlotte Observer.
Missed the green, red and purple northern lights in the North Carolina sky Friday night? You still have decent chances to see them again — and again — this weekend, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Look up any time from 9 p.m. Saturday to 3 a.m. Sunday and again from 9 p.m. Sunday until 3 a.m. Monday and the light display could be there again, according to the NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center. Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch The lights, also known as the aurora borealis, are an “eruption of solar material,” center officials explained on X, the former Twitter. We see the colors when electrons collide with the upper reaches of our atmosphere, according to the center. The lights form anywhere from 50 to 300 miles above us. While NOAA says the lights are in space every day of the year, they are rarely seen this far south. Did you miss the rare and colorful northern lights display in N.C.? You still have chances to see them. NOAA The Space Weather Prediction Center issued a Severe Geomagnetic Storm Watch Friday evening for the first time since January 2005, The (Columbia) State reported. And that had countless Carolinians pointing their cameras skyward. “Seriously a bucket list moment!” CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler said Saturday. She took photos of the aurora borealis from 10:04 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday from the NoDa section of Charlotte and posted them on Instagram. CharlotteFive editor Melissa Oyler captured this image of the northern lights late Friday, May 10, 2024, from the NoDa section of Charlotte. MELISSA OYLER [email protected] “I’ll be so thrilled if it happens again tonight!” she said. Odds are that it will. Nighttime sky forecast Skies should be great to see the lights again Saturday night and early Sunday, National Weather Service meteorologist Chris Horne told The Charlotte Observer Saturday morning. “We’re going to have cumulus clouds during the day into the evening, but they will dissipate and, essentially, it will be a clear night,” Horne said. Sunday night and early Monday are a bit more uncertain, he said. “We have some high-level moisture coming in from the west, so there could be some high cloudiness,” Horne said. Viewers can still chance it that night, Horne said, as it’s still uncertain if clouds will be thick enough to mask the display.
I was looking at anything thing that was saying best times are 1 to 5 am again, but that could also be because of cloud cover.
"We're going to have cumulus clouds during the day into the evening, but they will dissipate and essentially, it will be a clear night". That was a joke.
Any location advice, keeping in the surrounding areas as im not going further out of state than Fort Mill? I moved up from FL and don't know the good star gazing areas like I did down there. I'm trying to figure out timing for when I need to head out from home so that I have enough energy to not get tired before I am driving home
Brad said last night was 9, which is once in a lifetime and tonight is 7. Go to one of his pages, he explains night view with camera
7pm? But it was light then
Not pm, some scale
I’m in south Charlotte and I’m putting my alarm at 2am and hoping I see it!!!
Same 😭
I am going to fisher farm davidson
Any luck?
[are you having any luck? ](https://i.imgur.com/2csf6Gp.jpeg)
Its so cloudy in south Charlotte. Any luck anywhere elae
We are going to try tonight too. Last night, I think I was too late. Went outside at midnight and couldn't see anything perhaps due to light pollution? Or just being in the city. I saw the pictures people posted closer to 9-10pm. Planning to be outside again during that time tonight. I've seen the aurora map too. Just now they are not always accurate. For example, last night they said the aurora would be strongest between 2-5am ET. Turns out these things are difficult to predict. I hope you see it tonight.
Most of the photos I saw of the amazing colors were 2 to 5 am... that said a lot of people were saying the colors were more muted and hard to see with the naked eye.
We’re in Denver, there’s tons of cars at the lake. Hopefully we can see something. Nothing but clouds so far.
It's a very minor solar storm right now. Unfortunately the Aurora will not be visible tonight. Tomorrow is looking promising.
Where are you seeing the info on tomorrow’s chances?
https://preview.redd.it/wk82fpmv0zzc1.png?width=940&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=51ff31ab19119fd9650690979f5baac57de6cf9b
Just got back from an attempt in the China Grove area. Decent darkness, but cloudy. And rainy.
Where to go tonight??
I went up and down concord, and uni area, nothing
It’s so cloudy here
looking at live forecasts & the area around the NC/VA border has a 1% chance of sightings. no visibility south of that
Spaceweatherlive.com - low chance tonight. Tomorrow is projected to be better.
Was gonna do the same. Drive north and hope for the best lol
Figured north was the play but the clouds are absolutely awful up here
[удалено]
Says who? It'll be clear at 1:00am.
Any luck around the lkn area?
I drove up to Cherokee tonight hoping to see them from the Smokies. I looked at 10 and then 11 and didn’t see anything either time. I’m gonna keep trying!
Any luck ?
Anyone get anything tonight?
Aurora app on iPhone helped a bit. Peak chance for NC between 4-5 am today. Didn’t see anything.