Something for Sunday-Northern Lights

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Copyright ©2024 Deborah M. Zajac. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

PLEASE DO NOT USE MY IMAGES WITHOUT EXPRESSED WRITTEN PERMISSION.

With the all the intense Solar activity in the way of flares, and CME’s there have been Auroras are as low as Northern Nevada! I got an alert telling me the aurora was in my town and the KP rating was 8. Nine is the highest rating so I looked out the back door and I could see it so, I grabbed my camera, tripod, and cellphone, slipped into my shoes without tightening up my laces and dashed out the door. I didn’t grab a jacket, or my headlamp I was so excited. Here’s one of the many images I made.

©Deborah M. Zajac | http//circadianreflections.com Image

I’ve wanted to see the northern lights since I first learned about them as a kid. I always thought I’d have to travel way up north in the winter to have the best chance of seeing them.

Why is it pink? What causes the colors? I had to look it up because the Northern Lights (aurora borealis), here have been bright pink with some blues and purples, and very little green.

They are created when energized particles from the sun slam into Earth’s upper atmosphere at speeds up to 45 million mph (72 million kph). Our planets magnetic field protects us from the onslaught.

Earth’s magnetic field redirects those particles towards the poles transforming that energy into the dazzling display we call the Northern Lights or in the Southern Hemisphere the Southern Lights (aurora australis).

Most Northern Lights are green but when there’s been intense solar activity the color can be red, pink, blue, or purple.

Here’s a linkhttps://sciencenotes.org/aurora-colors-explained-southern-and-northern-lights/ to Science Notes that explains the Aurora colors in more detail.

I’m hearing and reading that it’s been seen all over the country. That’s so exciting!

Nikon D850| Nikkor 35mm f/1.8g| PS CC 2024

55 thoughts on “Something for Sunday-Northern Lights”

  2. Holy moly! Absolutely dazzling photo, Deborah. I liked your story, too, about running out sans jacket, being so excited. Really great description of the phenomenon. Seeing the a.b. is also one of my dreams, but I don’t really like to go to cold places. But just this month we hooked up with a friend and are in the midst of making plans for a trip to Fairbanks next year. Who cares if I get cold. Meanwhile, I have your gorgeous spectacle here. Congrats on becoming so accomplished with your night photography.

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    1. Thank you so much, Jet! I was freezing when I got back to my house and I could barely use my fingers but, it was worth it.

      I have some photography friends that went to Alaska to see the Northern Lights up in Alaska years ago . They said they took a snowcat to the spot set up their cameras then rode back to the warm yurt for hot cocoa and snacks then waited and watched the Northern Lights, then went back to get their cameras. That’s the way to do it!
      I’m excited for your trip already. I can’t wait to read your post and see the images!

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  3. That’s an awesome shot Deborah! I went out too and used my iPhone on a little tripod. I got a lot of purple in my shot and will probably use it in a silhouette post at some point. Isn’t it great we didn’t have to go to Alaska or Iceland to capture it?!?

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        1. Thank you so much, Donna! That was me trying to find in the morning eastern sky. It was behind the mountains or the sun was so bright I could never find it.
          There’s still time for you to find a spot. I think the best viewing is still until the 20th.

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  7. Three days ago we just had amazing aurora borealis over our village. We have this sometimes. Although when we were living in Arctic Finland we saw them every night during the winter.

    Our northern lights were green and red. In the Arctic, we always saw them like coloured curtains moving in a slight breeze.

    Thanks for sharing
    The Fab Four of Cley
    🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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      1. We know this explanation because we studied aurora borealis when living in Finland. The Sami think that the aurora borealis are the kind of souls of dead children (or ancestors).
        Interesting is the crackling noise you hear when seeing huge Northern Lights, meaning aurora filling the horizon and moving like curtains.

        Thanks for your link and reply
        The Fab Four of Cley
        🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂

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  9. Beautiful! Thank you also for the information about how they are formed. I’m curious, since I’ve seen so many people all over the US and Canada posting pictures recently, is this just a function of social media, or is the activity much greater and the visibility more widespread for some reason… and, if so, why?

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    1. Thank you so much, Janis. To try to answer your question I think it’s a bit of both. The Plasma activity has been intense lately with some really big CME’s that are so intense the particles penetrate further down the magnetic lines.
      Then with the invention of the digital camera more people are taking photos, and social media gives us all an avenue to share our photos and experiences. Does that help answer your question a little. 😊

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    2. P.S. “Solar Cycle 25 will peak in activity in 2024 and early 2026. Scientist expect more frequent and intense geomagnetic storms, leading to more frequent and widespread aurora borealis sightings.” https://www.forbes.com/sites/tylerroush/2024/10/14/updated-northern-lights-forecast-heres-where-aurora-borealis-may-appear-tonight/

      Scroll down to the bit about Key Background: So there’s hope we’ll see them again at our lower latitudes!

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  12. What a gorgeous photo, Deborah, and what a lucky opportunity. Thanks for the explanation of the various colours.

    We didn’t see any here, but others nearby did. We hope to see northern lights on our next trip, along the Norwegian coast in January.

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  15. That’s beautiful! We had then here too but missed the best and only saw a glimmer of pink via Mrs H’s mobile phone but you could see the sky was different. Our friend a few miles away got a lovely shot on her phone which must have had a better camera.

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    1. Thank you so much, Brian! I’m seeing image from the UK too. Isn’t neat that we got to see it at all! The last couple of nights the rating hasn’t been nearly as good as it was on the 10th so I didn’t go out to look thinking I saw and got the best then.
      Shooting in night mode for 5 to 10 seconds with your cell phone’s camera is getting people good results. It’s amazing what our cell phone cameras can do these days.

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  20. That is a wonderful picture Deborah! Northen light seems to be all over he place this fall. I haven’t experienced it mysefl but it is seen in my country too. Problem here is that there is to much artificial light, so the sky is hard to really see. Did your eyes see the same as your camera did? I think I read somewhere that camera’s catch northen light better then eyes can.

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    1. Thank you so much, Peter! I was able to see it with my eyes, but it wasn’t quite as vibrant. My camera caught the colors and dancing beautifully.
      I found it interesting that my neighbor whom I texted to tell her to grab her gear and meet me couldn’t really see it. I kept trying to point it out and describe what I was seeing but, she had a hard time seeing it.
      I wonder if all the years I’ve been looking up at the night sky has helped train my eyes to see things like this?

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    1. Thank you so much, Marina! I feel really lucky to have seen it. I expected green and yellow maybe some blue, because of what we normally see being shared, but I learned something new about the intensity and makeup of the particles in the flares having a huge impact of the colors of the Aurora. The pinks, reds, blues, and purples are rarer than the green and yellow ones.

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  23. I’m so glad you were able to see them. The last time, I only saw pink, but apparently the mix of colors made it even farther south this time. A friend in Beaumont, Texas, sent me a photo from her area — fabulous! I especially like the way the stars also are shining in your photo. Somewhere I saw an image where the photographer also had captured a comet amid all the other beauty.

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    1. Thank you so much, Linda! I feel really lucky to have seen at least one in my lifetime now. That is was rare pink one this far south makes it more special.
      I saw one from a photographer in Calif. that had a meteor in his, and some others with the Milky Way too. Those are special sightings.

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