APOD: Mysterious Green Patches on the Sky (2013 Sep 30)

[geckzilla]

Surely you don't think a pipeline that exploded 1500 miles away the night after the video was shot had anything to do with it?

No, the night OF the video.
Which, quoting APOD, "ran from 9:30 pm August 11 to 3:00 am the next morning" The 12th.
John

The pipeline exploded "just before midnight on Monday, August 12, 2013" which indicates that it happened on the night of the twelfth into the morning on the thirteenth. The night after the APOD video.

[AF59]

I notice a bit of greenish glow in the sky at the beginning and until the glow brightens. The rock seems to brighten in green on the right as if a car or other light is reflecting there that wasn't before. I think it is either clouds moving in and picking up a green hugh or more likely clouds moving in and the lens of the camera reflecting the increase brightening green from the rock making it look like the new clouds have a green tinting. In other words the green is brightening on the camera lens and the camera is filming that at the same time the new clouds are moving in. Or it is, OH NO, the big green sky blob again.

[Sea Petal]

My guess is the light source that is hidden behind the foreground rock, illuminating the other rocks with a greenish hue, is then reflecting off the incoming tide water, and illuminating the bottoms of the low clouds (fog) hovering just above the waters.

I agree, the artificial light source is reflecting off the water the color of the green algae on the rock formations onto the sea mist (fog). There could also be some color reflecting from anything in the water such as green sea weed etc. Not exactly a "heavenly" astronomical phenomena but still beautiful

[ibmelrod]

Have a look at today's EPOD http://epod.usra.edu/ Can't say it's an answer but sure is a neat coincidence!

[johnamillerx]

I agree with the tidal reflection theory, enhanced by the light-reflective rock -- the sky effect seems to begin on the right, opposite the rock on the left.

[AnarchoSyndicate]

hello, im from Niagara Falls Ontario...and I think I may have a speculative explanation for the "green lights" seen from New Brunswick as posted on NASA's "Astronomy Picture Of The Day" thread.

The lights look entirely reminiscent of the Aurora Borealis, but that far south? and that far east? hard to believe.

UNLESS, you consider the activities carried out by Auroral Research and Ionospheric Heating (usually dark ie. hidden from public) facilities like HAARP in Alaska and EISCAT near Tromso Norway (where that eerie "portal" was seen in the sky a few years back and claimed to be an "out of control rocket"). I do recall hearing about the apparent existence one of these facilities operating on the East Coast- I believe somewhere in Labrador. Though I've not been able to dig up any further info about this facility (after hearing about this incident). There is the CHAIN facilities that have been built across Nunavut, but I do believe I heard about a similar facility in the maritimes.

Might the work being carried out by one of these facilities potentially explain this phenomenon?

can anyone comment on the existence of such a facility on Canada's east coast, particularly in the maritimes?

[Fumtu]

I've lived in Maine and New Hampshire for 30+ years and it's an aurora. We get them from time to time.

[AnarchoSyndicate]

I notice a bit of greenish glow in the sky at the beginning and until the glow brightens. The rock seems to brighten in green on the right as if a car or other light is reflecting there that wasn't before. I think it is either clouds moving in and picking up a green hugh or more likely clouds moving in and the lens of the camera reflecting the increase brightening green from the rock making it look like the new clouds have a green tinting. In other words the green is brightening on the camera lens and the camera is filming that at the same time the new clouds are moving in. Or it is, OH NO, the big green sky blob again.

where pre-tel is the "car light" originating from? on the beach....amidst a bunch of rocks....at night....

im sorry but this speculated light source would, you would think, be evident elsewhere in the footage. no?

where do you suggest this apparent light source is coming from?

[hmmm]

Reminds me of noctilucent clouds

[Travis Rector]

It looks like aurora to me, especially at the end of the video. Aurora doesn't always look like a curtain- it can be intermittent flashes as well. Here is a video I shot from my driveway last October: https://vimeo.com/51736357. You can see at the start of the video patches of aurora popping in and out in a way similar to this video. I don't see any correlation with the tides, which shouldn't matter. And it couldn't be bioluminescence reflecting off of the clouds- they'd be too faint and the clouds too far away. If the direction is looking NE they are definitely far enough north to see it.

[Sugar]

I think it could be the glow of experimental flares. We live near a flare and pyrotechnics manufacturing and testing facility. When they test flares we see yellowy and greenish tinges in the sky!

[Guest]

I agree with the tidal reflection theory, enhanced by the light-reflective rock -- the sky effect seems to begin on the right, opposite the rock on the left.

You will also notice that at about 26 seconds into the video the rock closest to the foreground lights up very brightly as the reflection from the artificial light source (assuming placed their by photographer for effect) gets even brighter and then the light goes out completely and the scene gets much darker. As someone mentioned earlier the light may have been either turned off or was put out by the tide waters. The phenomena seems to have a direct relationship with the tide and the lighting and when you look carefully begins to mimic/reflect the greenest elements in the shot.

Seems to me the shot faces southwest. The tides in the Bay of Fundy are the highest in the world, up to 50 feet in some areas. The water rises about 5 feet an hour near the Quoddy Head Harbour Lighthouse on Campobello Island.

[Chronos]

Anyone else notice that it was done by "Creative Imagery?" No chance they're being creative, is there?

[Sea Petal]

I agree with the tidal reflection theory, enhanced by the light-reflective rock -- the sky effect seems to begin on the right, opposite the rock on the left.

You will also notice that at about 26 seconds into the video the rock closest to the foreground lights up very brightly as the reflection from the artificial light source (assuming placed their by photographer for effect) gets even brighter and then the light goes out completely and the scene g ets much darker. As someone mentioned earlier the light may have been either turned off or was put out by the tide waters. The phenomena seems to have a direct relationship with the tide and the lighting and when you look carefully begins to mimic/reflect the greenest elements in the shot.

Seems to me the shot faces southwest. The tides in the Bay of Fundy are the highest in the world, up to 50 feet in some areas. The water rises about 5 feet an hour near the Quoddy Head Harbour Lighthouse on Campobello Island.

I also wanted to add that scale plays a part. The highest tides there are around 44 feet. So note the high tide marks on the rocks and you get a better idea of the scale and note how the reflection shows up just above the top of the rocks and the green trees. Very similar to the mirror affect of a glassy surface you get when the shoreline reflects on it.

[victoryhighlander]

I live on the other side of the Bay of Fundy in a dark sky area of SW Nova Scotia. So we are on a diagonal to Hopewell. We were out watching the Perseid Meteor showers until well past 1:30am. There were cloud patches towards the north and there were numerous flickers of very pale green Aurora Borealis after 1am just above our tree line. When I went up to bed after 2am I checked to the North from upstairs and saw a few more green reflections through thin cloud and some low rolling fog. I agree that the camera work and lighting can be integral factors too. And please note: Saint John New Brunswick is a good distance west of Hopewell. You'd never see any residual light from St. John's Newfoundland. It's a bit of a drive, ferry ride and drive from those rocks!!

[Guest]

Those are creative ideas, but I think the answer is more mundane. The atmosphere is alive with airglow most nights, from OH in the atmosphere that is excited during the day by solar UV radiation. The OH airglow is most prominent in the near-infrared but is visible in CCD images as well. The color it appears in a color movie like this one depends on the camera and optical coatings. Being that this movie was taken fairly far north, the possibility of aurora is very good too. But even in images taken farther south you will see flickering bands of OH airglow passing through on time scales of minutes to hours almost every night. We're just not used to seeing it. I think the correlation with the tide is coincidental.

[ksdogra]

It does not seem like related to aurora or any other natural phenomenon. When the green hue on the clouds appears it also appears on the foreground rock formations. Apparently, it was illuminated by some source behind the camera (There is constant bright light between the rocks too). Perhaps a car had its halogen headlights left on which lit up the rocks and the clouds which coincidentally appeared at the same time as the tide. ksd

[robur2]

I agree with those who said that these green patches are due to camera's internal reflection caused by the increased brightness of the waves that takes center stage as the tide rises. Maybe if the author had used a Nikon instead of a Canon, the problem would be gone or, at least, changed to a more pleasant patchy orange glow.

[Quinsey]

I've only questions after watching this video. What causes the overall orange glow? Are filters being used? The orange glow, at first, appears to be the sunset, but this is on the east coast of Canada, and looking southeast... the sun's at our backs here... So, what is causing the orange glow and it's brilliance on the horizon??? The sky should be blue to black... Shouldn't it?

There's clearly artificial light added to make things more dramatic, (the light behind the rocks to the right of the scene), which makes me wonder what contribution it might have to the orange glow and the green blotches.

I live in northern Canada and have seen lots of northern lights. The video's green blotches are not that unlike aurora effects I've seen. This range of green is certainly one we see in the northern lights; in fact, these greens are the predominant colours of the Lights. If these green blotches are not caused by the technology used, it strikes me that they are most likely to be somehow related to the Aurora Borealis, but here again, there's little in all of this video that looks to be natural light colour.

The more I watch this video, the more I am confused by the all of the sky colours. There's no way this is natural light. What's been modified, and/or added to make the sky look like it does?

ps - My monitor is a 27" Apple LED that I colour calibrate using a Spyder3Elite system so I should be seeing this video true to its actual colours.

[Noahsark1704]

It appears to be an aurora to me. Good video though and fascinating to watch!

[Sea Petal]

I agree with the tidal reflection theory, enhanced by the light-reflective rock -- the sky effect seems to begin on the right, opposite the rock on the left.

You will also notice that at about 26 seconds into the video the rock closest to the foreground lights up very brightly as the reflection from the artificial light source (assuming placed their by photographer for effect) gets even brighter and then the light goes out completely and the scene g ets much darker. As someone mentioned earlier the light may have been either turned off or was put out by the tide waters. The phenomena seems to have a direct relationship with the tide and the lighting and when you look carefully begins to mimic/reflect the greenest elements in the shot.

Seems to me the shot faces southwest. The tides in the Bay of Fundy are the highest in the world, up to 50 feet in some areas. The water rises about 5 feet an hour near the Quoddy Head Harbour Lighthouse on Campobello Island.

I also wanted to add that scale plays a part. The highest tides there are around 44 feet. So note the high tide marks on the rocks and you get a better idea of the scale and note how the reflection shows up just above the top of the rocks and the green trees. Very similar to the mirror affect of a glassy surface you get when the shoreline reflects on it.

Also note the water will come and completely surround the rock formation on the right hand side of the shot. The one that lights up so suddenly and then goes dark.

[De58te]

I think it is some reflection from the flood lights. Notice that the chimney rock or hoodoo I believe they are called, are lit by some yellow and green lights particularly the hoodoo in the middle.
Now the reflection in the sky occurs along with the tide rolling in. If that wasn't all, the rock on the right which was previously in darkness gets lit up by the same green light as the sky. This eliminates the possibility of an Aurora.

[Martin Gaskell]

The picture was taken near to one of highest regions of auroral activity on the earth. The appearance is consistent with quiescent auroral activity which is slower moving than when aurorae are very active. The camera is aimed towards the southern horizon. Although aurorae can cover the entire sky they tend to be much brighter in the north when seen from northern latitudes. The aurora would have been much brighter behind the camera and I think this is what is making the rocks turn green as the activity moves north (= up) in the video. I've seen many auroral displays, including some from quite far south. The southernmost display of the aurora borealis I have seen to date was from Kitt Peak Observatory near Tucson (only 32 degrees north).

[rcharlet]

Some observations:
-------------------

* There are several artificial (man made) light sources illuminating 4 different surfaces, consistently, all night.
1 the beach
2 the center rock in the distance
3 the high rock on the left
4 the near-high rock on the right (but notably, not the just a bit further high rock on the right)

* Every single surface which is lit by by the man-made light winds up glowing green.
(yes, even the beach itself, but you have to watch somewhat carefully)

* The green glow in the air appears when the rising tide has lapping waves upon the beach in range of the artificial light from behind the right rock bridge.
* The green glow in the air disappears coincident with two other observable events:
1. when the tide is high enough to no-longer be lapping at the beach
2. when the 'normal' clouds roll through the frame from right to left.


Some inferences:
------------------------
These (at least 4) light sources have very likely, intentionally been placed by the videographer to achieve an artistic, dynamic lighting effect.
Green is caused by the artificial light.

My suggestion for the cause:
-------------------------
Green in the air is caused by artificial light being reflected from the rising tide upward into misty air which had been present all night.

[morganismfl]

Im gonna go with with methane charged cloud formation. There are a few papers on methane in atmo increasing the noctilucent cloud formation already.

Tide could be forcing methane hydrate under pressure to force free methane out of the higher density, low tidal flat water. Doesn't NB have some of the highest tides in the world ?