Armchair aurora watching

[DustBunnyFarmer]

I'm starting this discussion because I was in danger of hijacking the Icelandic volcano thread. I started using the Mila Icelandic webcams to watch the eruption at Holoraun (the Bardabunga webcams), but lately I've seen the aurora borealis quite a few times on the other webcams, particularly the Thingvellir webcam www.livefromiceland.is/webcams/thingvellir/, although the lights can be seen sometimes on the Hekla and Jokulsarlon ones.

Another OP posted a link to the Hotel Ranga aurora cam, which is here: www.hotelranga.is/northern-lights/northern-light-webcam/

I am posting a couple of pics below for comparison to get you started. The first is a lovely aurora shot at Thingvellir from September, then a more blurry one from last night and a normal dark evening shot.

If you can find any other lovely aurora cams please post links (and pics) below. Happy hunting!

And the Kiruna sky camera.

That would have been nice to see, DustBunny.
Not much to see at the moment ~ I think there might be a slight greenish glow on some of the Finnish and Swedish webcams but that's about it for now.

Ah you see the glow too ~ 'tis not my imagination then!

That's annoying. Both of those cameras have settled down again now. I really thought Kiruna would get going - it was quite intense, even though it was only just on the edge of the camera.

I'm trying to work out whether the greenish glow I'm seeing on the Porjus, Jokkmokk webcams are Aurora going on above the clouds, a camera lens trick thing or my imagination!
Weird sort of light on the first North Finland camera at the moment.

how do you save the images?

I have a mac - CMD+SHIFT+4 allows you to select an area to screen shot. If you are screen shotting a small area you need to have the cursor in the right place before you do the keystroke command, as you drag the cropping window/cursor & then it automatically takes a shot. CMD+SHIFT+3 screen shots the whole screen. Not sure about an IBM-compatable PC - print screen and then edit to crop the image?

It is a weird light on the top camera. I read somewhere the aurora generally start on the horizon, so it could be the lights. I agree the greenish glow at Porjus is probably the lights above the cloud cover - it was like that a couple of nights ago, though less heavy cloud and it totally lit the sky up even though you couldn't actually see the aurora.

I think there are aurora on the Kilpisjarvi camera about half way down - it's hard to tell because it's black & white, but there are light ripples across the camera.

It's a shame about that camera being b&w ~ seeing the colours is the whole idea!
That strange light seems to have gone now, looks like the tourists staying in the holiday cottages haven't had as good an Aurora performance tonight, compared to last nights display.

Alaska now!

And there's a great cam here allsky.gi.alaska.edu/ where you also view the last 30 mins as a video

In fact you can view the whole night.

Ooo that's an excellent website, PseudoBadger!

Isn't it! I've been refreshing all morning.

I like how I can go away and do stuff and then go back in time (on the website) and see what I've missed!

Looks like a great show tonight, still going on now!

Fantastic stuff, Badger. Thanks for joining - the more eyes we have on the skies, the better.

Just got in from work, but I'll be checking out the Alaskan footage later.

At the mo, most of the EU cameras are blighted by heavy cloud. Utsjoki, Sodakyla and Kiruna look to be our best bets tonight. I don't know if they'll have the brazier going or the flood lights on at Utsjoki tonight - it looks like their 4 night aurora trips run Monday to Friday, so it might be quieter there tonight - although maybe better for aurora viewing if the light levels are lower?

I should have clarified - all the aurora tourists fly home during the day on the Friday, so the cabins may be empty tonight.

Beautiful Aurora at Kiruna and Abisko at the moment. Think there's a slight greenish light on the North Finland camera as well. I think I want to stay in those cabins!

Damn. I missed them, but the curry was worth it. Yes, Utsjoki camera (the top one) has a lovely diffuse green light, even though it's slightly mellowed by the cloud cover. I will take a pic.

Here it is.

Ha - just watched the sped up Alaskan overnight footage. It's brilliant - though over rather too quickly.

It's wonderful isn't it

I've just been googling short breaks to view the aurora. I think the one offered by the people who host the above camera may be one of the best - they actually take you out in the evenings to find an area without cloud cover, if need be. We've been to Lapland before (pre kids) and didn't see them once - it was the right time of year & everything!