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Post by cloudwatcher on Jul 20, 2009 17:43:38 GMT
I only "discovered" the existence of NLC this year, and have been sort of obsessed with them (according to my family). It's great to find a site like this! My questions are: I live in central Ohio, so what are the odds of my seeing NLCs this summer? In the pictures on the INTERNET, they often look more white than blue; is this the case? Or are they unmistakably different from the high cirrus clouds often seen after sunset? Also in the pictures there is usually a reddish glow, as if lingering from the sunset. So my question is, once the sky is completely dark is it safe to assume that there will be no NLCs that night? Thanks to anyone who can answer these questions.
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Post by André on Jul 20, 2009 21:00:56 GMT
(we had genuine reports from Iran last year - latitude of about 30 degrees north! Unfortunately not. The image was a fake. This was clarified by researchers from Kühlungsborn (http://www.spektrum.de/artikel/970892) The fake can be seen here and if you compare the clouds with this swedish image from 30.7.07 www.spaceweather.com/nlcs/images2007/30jul07/Hed%E9n1.jpg you will find that these are indentical. Additionally an image taken at night could never show sharp ripples on the water surface as shown in the iranian image. Sorry to spoil your post, but I think this must be said. André
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Post by PeteG on Jul 20, 2009 22:08:55 GMT
"How strange that someone would want to fake a NLC display! Whatever next?"
I thinking the very same thing.
Pete
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Post by tmcewan on Jul 20, 2009 23:24:03 GMT
Yes, sad but true. I did announce this somewhere here on the forum but the fake was spotted out of season so the news was easy to miss. So far as I know the record low latitude sighting is from Palmela, Portugal (38.34'N) on 2007 June 29-30 (a night when we certainly had a big event across Europe). 1999 June 22-23 is another date that springs to mind when NLC was reported and photographed (fortuitously, by experienced observers) from Boulder, Colorado, USA Lat 39.53'.
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Post by cloudwatcher on Jul 22, 2009 23:20:49 GMT
Hey John, thanks for all of the info. I know it's a long shot that we might see NLC in Ohio, but I can keep hoping and looking.
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