Aurora. Aurora Borealis. Northern lights. An awesome event that most people never have a chance to see. Northern
lights are showers of charged protons interacting with gases in our upper atmosphere. Protons fleeing from the surface
of our sun brings to life the invisable magnetic field lines running around our globe. When sunspots appear
on the sun, those facing us have a possibility of ejecting solor material into our atmosphere. These are called Coronal
Mass Ejections (CME's). The sunspots run in 11 year cycles. The solar maximum is a few years past now, so there isn't
much activity in lower Michigan right now (7/15/2005).
What a dry spell for aurora! No lights for over two years. Usually clouds restricting visability or just the
simple solar minimum occuring. The lack of active sunspots spouting off their charged particles earthward cause such
a quiet sky. Finally, on the night of December 14, 2006, an expectant sky brought forth a small display of green light.
I shot for about 2 hours and saw approximately 12 geminid meteorites, but had none appear in the pics. Nikon coolpix
8700, 1 min exposures, f/2.8, ISO 50.
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On the night of Nov. 14th, 2004, I set my camera up to shoot Leonid meteors and as I ended a one hour exposure, I
noticed a glow to the north. There were no alerts or indicators showing aurora activity, but in a spot below the north
star polaris, was a small aurora. It faded in and out repeatedly. Sure was odd looking...
Pentax K1000, kodak hi def 400, 50mm f/2 lens, 20 seconds.
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I am starting to see a pattern with these Aurora. It seems that the fall of the year has more aurora than the rest
of the year. This year is no different.
November 7, 2004 brought out my first aurora of the year. I spotted them just before bedtime. I shot them from 10:30pm
until I went through two and a half rolls of film. They were still raging at 12:30am, but I couldn't stay up any longer.
Pentax K1000, fuji 200, 24mm f/2.8 lens, 23 seconds.
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The colorful ending of 2003. I had little aurora photographing this year due to cloud cover. It was almost a full year
since seeing them last, and now i'm seeing them quite often!
The first bright photos with the wall of red, were taken just before I went to work. I debated on being to work late,
or shooting. My wife said shoot, so I did as I was told! (5:30am)
Then, approximately 7:30pm, I stepped out with my oldest son and observed a glow to the north. We also saw these red
streaks to the south, and southwest. I didn't know if they were aurora, but when in doubt...
The green curtains were from 1:00am the morning of the 21st.
Photos were taken on Nov. 20, and 21,2003 with Pentax K1000, 28mm f/2.8 lens, fuji 200 film, at 25 seconds, and
50mm f/2, 15 seconds
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Following the last nights aurora came more excitement of the same, only this time I shot some twilight aurora! Just
after the sun went down (approximatly 6:10pm EST), I started watching the darkening skies, and there they were! An
obvious red arch stretched from east to west. They continued until about 10:30pm.
All photos were taken on Oct. 30, 2003 with Pentax K1000, 28mm f/2.8 lens, fuji 200 film, at 25 seconds.
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Autumn Aurora. Beautiful, bright,fast and furious! About 7:15, I did my usual rounds to check for aurora. After the
X17 solar flare occured, I'd hoped God would part the cloud cover, just long enough to see more of his handywork. Here
are some of the shots I got from 7:30-8:30pm.
All photos were taken on Oct. 29, 2003 with Pentax K1000, 28mm f/2.8 lens, fuji 200 film, at 25 seconds.
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Aurora has still been spotty. Most of these aurora appear on the horizon for an hour or so, then it's over. These
photos are from Sept. 24, 2003, approximately 10:30pm.
Pentax k1000, 50mm lens, f/2, fuji 800 film for 25sec.
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Since I moved to Memphis Michigan, I haven't seen any aurora, even though I have a wide open horizon to the north.
Most of the time there are aurora sighted, it is cloudy here! But, I finally saw a little bit of aurora on the night of
August 17, 2003, then again on the following night of the 18th. There was little to see, but from past expirence, I
learned to shoot, and find out later what develops.
Here are a couple, not great, but something! Pentax k1000, 24mm lens, fuji 200 film for 30sec (august 17th).
Pentax k1000, 50mm lens, f/2, fuji 200 for 1 minute (Aug 18th)
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Here we are again, Aurora in September! As I said only three days ago, it has been calm here in Michigan for aurora.
My family and I had taken a wonderful one day vacation at the cottage my boss Ernie Tyvaert owns on the beautiful
Harsens Island, right on the south channel. I came home to find there was an aurora alert on my email. So at 9:30pm
I was alerted by my children that the northern lights were 'out'! So I went out and shot for about an hour. By 10pm,
the lights were fading and so was I. I checked again at 10:30pm, but they were gone!
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The year 2002 has been calm here in Michigan as far as aurora sightings. Either it is cloudy, or I just plain slept
thru them! Sept 4th I finally photographed some. At 11:45 I saw the glow on the northern horizon. At 2:30am, I saw them
faint. The aurora became brighter around 5am, and I got a shot of a slender crescent moon beside Jupiter!
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I woke up with aurora on my mind. Looking out my window just before dawn, this pink glow was waving me outside. I shot
for approximately 25 minutes. 30 sec shots with Fuji film 200, 24mm f/2.8
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These photos are from October 19, 2001.
I saw the sky aglow to the east from my mothers yard. The sky was intense from east to west, with no definition at
all to the east. The first two photos are from her house. Later, I photographed the the remainder from my dark site
further north. The red was not visible, but came out on the film. All photos were 25-30 sec. shots on Fuji film 200,
24mm f/2.8
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These photos are from November 5, 2001. I was tired, heading for bed, looked out the door, and woke right up! From
10p to 11p I took these shots from my trailer, and from down the road. Awesome! My family and I just stood there
looking up with our mouths hanging open. The most fascinating part is the waves that roll in and give the curtains
color. Pentax k1000 25-30 sec shots with Fuji film 200, 24mm f/2.8
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My neck has almost a permanent 45 degree bend upward. Coming home early evening, I spotted a feint glow northward.
I dropped my groceries and grabbed my camera. This was the only shot good enough to shoot, and the last aurora I saw
this night! 25 sec., 50mm f/2
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First awesome display I've seen since 1982(?)! At 3:00 in the morning, this display had me trying to rub the sleep
from my eyes. I woke my wife and my three boys, and we watched the waves roll over and over! The corona was not as good
as the film showed, but still worth the loss of sleep! 30 sec shots on Royal gold 200, 24mm f/2.8; 25 sec 50mm f/2
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I was out minding my own business one night, when I saw a glow to the north. It had the appearance of northern
lights, but I wasn't sure. When in doubt-shoot! So I shot, and this is what I found! Pentax k1000, 24mm f/2.8, 30 sec
shots.
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My start in photographing the aurora borealis! One good shot(?). Rushing to work early one morning (without my
camera!), I could see the glow. By the time I got back home, the aurora had moved away to the east and disappeared.
25 sec., 50mm f/2
