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Aurora Alert During The Nights Ahead
Jens Lönn writes: "Magnetic fields above sunspot 9653 erupted yesterday (Oct. 9th at 1110 UT) and hurled a full-halo coronal mass ejection toward Earth. The expanding cloud, which speed away from the Sun traveling approximately 1000 km/s, could strike our planet's magnetosphere as soon as Thursday, Oct. 11th. Sky watchers, especially those living above geomagnetic latitude 50 degrees, should remain alert for Northern Lights during the nights ahead. The best time to spot auroras is usually around local midnight. Note: This is not an alert for a geomagnetic storm, it's just an alert for those who wants to watch great auroras at night."
You can always check out the Aurora gallerys on this page, the photographers decsribe a bit about how they did and what equipment they used to get those beautiful pictures. Mostly people use ASA 400 with a 10 to 20 sec exposure time, but of course that depends on which lens you use. And the best way to learn is to try several exposure times and or films and remember to make notes for each photo you take (just to know what you did right and what went wrong). Often you can get pretty good pictures even if the aurora is faint, but thats a matter of exposure time and luck. But look at the photo details at the page, those guys know how to do it right :)
I havent seen any predictions about where on the scale this blob is, but it is possibly a R2 (or lower) - which means moderate effects. That is, only limited radio blackouts on the sunlit side.
2 reptiles beneath your current threshold.
Ahh, yes. I'm still waiting for a clear night with visible aurora in this solar cycle. During the last cycle on 13-March-1989, I saw one of the most amazing displays I have ever seen. If remember correctly my magnetic latitude is about 50degN. The display reached the zenith. I understand it was visible in the Caman Islands that night. I saw many displays growing up, as I lived quite a bit north of my present location. (About 60degN Magnetic)
If you're curious about what the aurora is doing, this is a good place to check. (If you're in the northern hemisphere)
Remember that aurora forecasts almost always list the magnetic latitude, so check to see if your location is expected to have visible aurora. For example, this forecast projects aurora at 50degN Magnetic and north (Yea!). You may (especially in North America) be further north (or south) than you think!
Milalwi
From what I understand from this page, if you are located at magnetic latitude 50 degrees, the activity level needs to be at 10+ before you can see the Northern Lights. The activity level is currently listed at a 6 and I don't see anywhere saying it's expected to rise in activity. So shouldn't the article say people at 60 degrees and above (not 50) should be able to see the Aurora?