Well . . . last night was incredible. The aurora was out shortly after nightfall. Diffuse bands filled the sky between 8-11 pm. Shortly after 11 pm the sky exploded. I’ve never seen the aurora move so fast. It was an incredibly beautiful display. There were similar outbursts later in the night and into the morning, but none quite like the first.
During the first outburst the aurora moved so fast I couldn’t keep up with it. The pinks were shimmering so fast that my 1.6 second exposures barely captured the color. lightbox / prints
The aurora isn’t actually white like it looks in the middle of this band – it was just so bright that it oversaturated the camera sensor. lightbox / prints
The show lasted well into the next morning. I managed to stay awake until about 3 am (an incredible feat for me). Every time I went outside to pack up the camera something cool happened, like the moon rising right down the end of our street while the sky was filled with diffuse aurora, or strong bands condensing overhead again.
The aurora and weather forecasts both look great for tonight too, so it’s time to charge some batteries . . . and maybe take a nap.
You can view many more photos from the day/evening/next morning: 2014-11-14 and 2014-11-15
Some will inevitably end up in my “Northern Lights Alaska” album.
