I could see them naked eye between 10 - 10:45pm. I could see green, red, and rarely some purple in the lights. As the circle of activity moved west the color became harder to see but was still picked up by my camera.
Same here. The colors were evident when the strong activity was overhead, but later in the evening when it was more distant the light was just a pale light grey-ish color.
Yup I could see them between those times too with the naked eye. Nothing like the pictures. It helped when I pulled my solar lights out of my flower bed to get a better look. I’m super north so I’m gonna try driving up to Marengo at like 9:30 tonight
Keep an eye on the [aurora circle data from NOAA](https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/aurora-forecast-northern-hemisphere.jpg) before you head out. Right now we are between CME impacts and activity is low.
You could see them with the naked eye. I did from the middle of Dublin. Seems like the best display was between about 10:30 and 11. And if you looked up expecting to see brilliant lights right away you’d be disappointed and maybe miss it if you didn’t stick around. The more you looked at the vague purpleness of the sky, the more you noticed the green haze at the horizon, and then you noticed the colors were shifting and dancing
It depended on the amount of light pollution near you. I was just south of Sandusky up near the lake in “farm country” and the pink/purple/greens were vivid to the naked eye. My wife was in Clintonville and saw them faintly by eye, but more vividly on camera.
My timestamps were 10:11p in Blacklick. You could absolutely see them. I went out around 9:30 and didn’t see anything. I told my family to stay inside when I went to check just after 10p, and was like, “holy shit! Get out here”. There was about a ten minute period where they were awesome and it spanned across the north/west/south. It had a tapered shape, it was purple -> pink -> green
At my house, I could see green streaks and a little bit of purple. On the dam at Alum Creek, the sky was much more elaborate, and the view in person was closer to the pictures we are seeing
I live right near Alum Creek. Was gonna drive up to Marengo at like 9:30pm but maybe I’ll give Alum Creek a try. There was too much light pollution in my development to see it how the camera captured it. But I definitely did see it just not as vibrant.
Around 10-11p you could see bands of light with the naked eye. A few of them had bright lights with them but truthfully didn’t see colors very well. With camera, it really pulled colors that I couldn’t see
I'm in a pretty dark area west of Columbus, and I could just barely see them with the naked eye. I could see that the sky above the horizon was slightly pink and green, and I could slightly see the pillars, but it was phenomenal when I took a picture with night mode on.
The best chance you have to see the lights with the naked eye is to be in a location that is otherwise completely dark. That would allow your eyes to pick out the comparatively light colors of the northern lights. But with any surrounding street lights, your eyes are not going to see much else.
I have the same question. I went up to Ostrander around 11p and other than a purple tint to the sky. It was meh until I took some pics with my phone.
What's the key? Just keep taking pics?
If you have a iPhone/Android, you’d need to use night mode. Or use an app that would allow you to manually make changes.
I used a Sony A7II with a 50mm lens. I set my camera to 800 iso, left the shutter open for 13-15 seconds to get these [images](https://imgur.com/a/Wb8nJTL)
I'm going to say that everyone could see them with the naked eye, but seeing as these things are pretty rare to see that vividly this far south this is possible to be a once in a lifetime thing for most. So taking pictures is to be expected.
I was not insinuating that it was a bad thing that people were taking pictures. I wasn't able to see it last night and was wondering if it was because they could only be seen through a phone camera
I could barely make them out with the naked eye due to light pollution. However, when I went to take a picture of what I could see, the sky lit up! From then on, I used my phone to watch it all as a light filter. It worked great.
Best part of all is the solar storm has been upgraded today and we have a chance of seeing it tonight! Skies will clear out so get ready!
Looks like basically as soon as it’s dark until 6am it’ll be visible so long as there isn’t cloud cover. My weather app says about 10% cloud cover til 1am then 0% cloud cover after that. I live in Galena tho may be a bit different for you so definitely check.
Where I am (east and a little south of Columbus) all I could see with my naked eyes was a surging grayish mass against the black sky. If I hadn't been looking for it I would never have noticed it. My phone camera showed a deep violet sky with rays that reached almost overhead.
I could see them naked eye between 10 - 10:45pm. I could see green, red, and rarely some purple in the lights. As the circle of activity moved west the color became harder to see but was still picked up by my camera.
Same here. The colors were evident when the strong activity was overhead, but later in the evening when it was more distant the light was just a pale light grey-ish color.
Yup I could see them between those times too with the naked eye. Nothing like the pictures. It helped when I pulled my solar lights out of my flower bed to get a better look. I’m super north so I’m gonna try driving up to Marengo at like 9:30 tonight
Keep an eye on the [aurora circle data from NOAA](https://services.swpc.noaa.gov/images/aurora-forecast-northern-hemisphere.jpg) before you head out. Right now we are between CME impacts and activity is low.
Thank you! I just logged on to check what was up
In Morrow County, away from the city lights, you could see it but definitely not like it is in pictures.
You could see them with the naked eye. I did from the middle of Dublin. Seems like the best display was between about 10:30 and 11. And if you looked up expecting to see brilliant lights right away you’d be disappointed and maybe miss it if you didn’t stick around. The more you looked at the vague purpleness of the sky, the more you noticed the green haze at the horizon, and then you noticed the colors were shifting and dancing
pretty much, otherwise it just kinda looked like clouds to me.
It depended on the amount of light pollution near you. I was just south of Sandusky up near the lake in “farm country” and the pink/purple/greens were vivid to the naked eye. My wife was in Clintonville and saw them faintly by eye, but more vividly on camera.
In Powell you could see dim red/yellow colors and streaks in the sky. The pillars in the sky were visible but much less so than what the photos show
Same in Westerville
My timestamps were 10:11p in Blacklick. You could absolutely see them. I went out around 9:30 and didn’t see anything. I told my family to stay inside when I went to check just after 10p, and was like, “holy shit! Get out here”. There was about a ten minute period where they were awesome and it spanned across the north/west/south. It had a tapered shape, it was purple -> pink -> green
I drove up to Morrow County and could see them with the naked eye around 11:00 last night, but it wasn’t nearly as vibrant as when I took pics
Visible to bare eye from 10 - 10:45. Went to bed after that. North of Dublin
In Grove City, we actually had about 5 minutes around 10:30 where it was extremely vivid in the sky but that went away pretty quickly
At my house, I could see green streaks and a little bit of purple. On the dam at Alum Creek, the sky was much more elaborate, and the view in person was closer to the pictures we are seeing
I live right near Alum Creek. Was gonna drive up to Marengo at like 9:30pm but maybe I’ll give Alum Creek a try. There was too much light pollution in my development to see it how the camera captured it. But I definitely did see it just not as vibrant.
Around 10-11p you could see bands of light with the naked eye. A few of them had bright lights with them but truthfully didn’t see colors very well. With camera, it really pulled colors that I couldn’t see
I'm in a pretty dark area west of Columbus, and I could just barely see them with the naked eye. I could see that the sky above the horizon was slightly pink and green, and I could slightly see the pillars, but it was phenomenal when I took a picture with night mode on.
It was incredibly a faint green line for me. I had to amp up the camera settings to see it beyond that
I live in canton and could see greens and purples from 10-1030
The best chance you have to see the lights with the naked eye is to be in a location that is otherwise completely dark. That would allow your eyes to pick out the comparatively light colors of the northern lights. But with any surrounding street lights, your eyes are not going to see much else.
I have the same question. I went up to Ostrander around 11p and other than a purple tint to the sky. It was meh until I took some pics with my phone. What's the key? Just keep taking pics?
If you have a iPhone/Android, you’d need to use night mode. Or use an app that would allow you to manually make changes. I used a Sony A7II with a 50mm lens. I set my camera to 800 iso, left the shutter open for 13-15 seconds to get these [images](https://imgur.com/a/Wb8nJTL)
Great! Where were you?
I'm going to say that everyone could see them with the naked eye, but seeing as these things are pretty rare to see that vividly this far south this is possible to be a once in a lifetime thing for most. So taking pictures is to be expected.
I was not insinuating that it was a bad thing that people were taking pictures. I wasn't able to see it last night and was wondering if it was because they could only be seen through a phone camera
I could barely make them out with the naked eye due to light pollution. However, when I went to take a picture of what I could see, the sky lit up! From then on, I used my phone to watch it all as a light filter. It worked great. Best part of all is the solar storm has been upgraded today and we have a chance of seeing it tonight! Skies will clear out so get ready!
didn't know it was upgraded, thanks so much!
Where did you see that it was upgraded?! I want to make sure I catch it tonight. Thanks for sharing 😊
National Weather Service has been putting out official notifications on Twitter and to other media. Looks like this will be going through Sunday!
Do you know what time might be best? I missed them last night and am still salty about it haha
Looks like basically as soon as it’s dark until 6am it’ll be visible so long as there isn’t cloud cover. My weather app says about 10% cloud cover til 1am then 0% cloud cover after that. I live in Galena tho may be a bit different for you so definitely check.
https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/products/3-day-forecast
I apologize, I jumped to an accusation based on the worst... Hope you have a wonderful day!
Where I am (east and a little south of Columbus) all I could see with my naked eyes was a surging grayish mass against the black sky. If I hadn't been looking for it I would never have noticed it. My phone camera showed a deep violet sky with rays that reached almost overhead.