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Saturday, September 5, 2009

Carrington Flares, Aurora, Where were you on August 4, 1972?

Greg, KC2DWF, sent me a really interesting story about the work of the English solar astronomer Richard Carrington. He discovered a kind of solar flare (named for him) that comes along every few centuries and could knock us all off the air.

As I was reading the article, I started to think about a childhood event that I think I mentioned in one of the podcasts. I have vivid memories of a summer night in which the skies were filled with really bright colorful lights. The article about Carrington notes that there was a major solar flare (but not of Carrington levels) on August 4, 1972 that caused auroral displays far into the southern part of the USA. The year is a bit later than I thought (I was 13 at that time) but the time of year is correct. And that flare was big enough to have caused really vivid aurora over New York.
The NASA site "Brushfires in the Sky" provides this very helpful list for people, like me, trying to figure out what we saw, and when:

The Aurora Watchers Handbook lists the following "Great Geomagnetic Storms" of the 20th century when auroras were seen much farther south than usual. If you have a childhood memory of aurora borealis, it may have come from one of these storms.

  • October 31 - November 1, 1903
  • September 25, 1909
  • May 13-16, 1921
  • April 16, 1938
  • February 11, 1958
  • July 8, 1958
  • August 4, 1972
  • December 19, 1980
  • March 13-14, 1989
Looks to me like my event was August 4, 1972. Anyone else have memories of this storm?

Here is the article that Greg sent:
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2008/06may_carringtonflare.htm

18 comments:

  1. I remember that 1972 flare. It was shortly after I had finished building an 8" Newtonian telescope. I had it out in my back yard in Iowa when I noticed the aurora. I first though it some huge fire in a nearby town. The red glow looked as if it was flame reflecting off low clouds.

    I went in and called some friends in that town and and they informed me there was no fire. Later the 'curtain' streamers started and it became clear it was the Northern Lights.

    73,
    Tom - NCØO

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    1. saw it too that night. was out with my six inch criterion reflector.

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  2. I was in northern Michigan the summer of '72 working at a children's camp. I do remember seeing the Northern Lights for the first time in early August (I'm from Missouri). Even the locals were surprised how active they were - especially for summertime.

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  3. I remember it well. I had just returned from Tanglewood (Lenox, MA)where I enjoyed Leonard Bernstein and the Boston Symphony Orchestra perform Dvorak's "New World Symphony". I just happened to glance north while exiting my car....What a stroke of good fortune!!

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  4. I don't remember it, but I was there for some of it.... I was born 6:15pm that day. :)

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  5. I was 2 years old! It was so profound that I came online searching for when this event could have taken place. I remember still to this day! It must have been spectacular for a 2 year old to remember such a thing. I lived in Joplin, MO at the time and it has been a strong desire to see the AB again as an adult. I'll be 50 in May, sounds like a wonderful half century birthday present to me. I live in Texas now and have since 1984, so there have been no spectacular late night light shows since then. Thank you for this article, I was focusing on years 73 and 74 thinking in 72 I was too young and in 75 and up I would have been aware enough to remember much more about the event. Imagine a memory so ingrained it resonates still nearly 48 years later.

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  6. I was 15 years old living in Rocklake, ND. They were insane!!!! The colors were none that I have ever seen since, even in pictures! Unbelievable ad I tru ro described what me and my sister's and cousins witness that night.

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  7. Thanks to all who commented over the years. Rockdale, ND: Your comments got kind of garbled -- please, what did you want to say?

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  8. I thought I had a memory lapse or something I remember being at our Church and seeing them people look at me now like I'm crazy to have this memory. Thank u for confirming I would have been 10 yrs old. I'll have to check if that was a Wednesday or Sunday night

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  9. Could I have seen them outside of Dallas Texas?! I remember wavy red lights glowing all across the sky one night in august in the 1970s. I can’t specifically remember the year, but it was definitely summer and it was just amazing.

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  10. LisaR: Yes, that could have been it! Bill

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  11. I saw them and was flabbergasted
    Was at a friend's house in Hudson Michigan after a bunch of us had been out that night
    It was about 2 am...a bunch of us got on the roof and watched
    One of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen

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  12. I saw them over Lake Temagami in Ontario in early August 1972. Unbelievable.

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  13. I was 6 years old in Louisiana when it happened. I ran in the house to get my parents. I thought it was the end of the world 🤣🤣🤣

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  14. I was in Santa Cruz county in California. I was 12 years old. I have been asking recently if anybody remembered this event I remember running into the house and getting my dad. I have a very vivid memory of the green lights across the sky, wavering it lasted about 10 minutes.

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  15. No, and I lived in Ottawa then. But not licensed.

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  16. (Late contribution...) Yes, I remember the phenomenon; but it was an earlier occurence that will be hard to believe. I was on my grandfather's farm in Southwest Missouri (Newtonia/Stark City) at some very early age and remember the sky swirling greenish & magenta, looking north. The only timeframe that matches would be one of the two events in 1958, given that I am now 74. Age 8...startling!

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  17. I've thought about this a long time. I'd finished my BA at Urbana, IL (U of I), was working with a local rock band driving equipment back from playing in Aurora, IL (of all places). My fellow 'roadie' Chris Bland and I saw what we thought was a fire above the treeline to the west. Once we'd cleared the forrest, we pulled to the side of the road and watched an amazing light show with seemingly colored balls rolling up from swaths of green, purple and yellow. We decided it was probably flashback, excessive sleep deprivation or just weird. Years later, traveling in the polar regions, I believe what I'd seen was the Aurora Borealis. Only searching today, at 73, did I realize it was totally possible even that far south due to this phenomena in August of 1972. Shortly thereafter I returned to my natal home to begin teaching public high school.

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