August 12, 2016 Auroras and Perseid Meteors
Cohasset, MN
I drove over to Bass Lake in Cohasset to view the Perseid meteors, and the auroras also showed up. When the first quarter moon was still well above the western horizon, the camera picked up a dim band of "needle" auroras. These were probably part of the same phenomenon where a very narrow band develops well to the south of the main band of auroras. I'm really not sure why these happen or what causes them to develop, but they seem to occur most with steady, high speed solar wind streams.
Later, the moon got lower in the sky, allowing the auroras and meteors to become more prominent. By that time, the mysterious "needle" auroras had faded out.
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| A highly enhanced image showing the band of what I called "needle" auroras because of their very narrow appearance. The main band of auroras can be seen along the horizon. Solar wind speeds were in the 620 km/s range, and Bz was -3 nT to -2 nT. |
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| Meteor #1. |
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| Meteor #2. |
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| Meteor #3. |
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