Aurora 2024

Everyone has probably heard about the big solar storm that was supposed to make the aurora phenomenon visible further away from the earth's poles than usual. I live too far south (≈35°N) of the North Pole for the aurora to be visible under most circumstances. I've always wanted to see the aurora but haven't been able. So, I didn't hold much hope for anything here until I read a story from National Public Radio (NPR) on their website, where Rob Steenburgh from the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is quoted as saying:

"And don't forget to go outside and look up... A faint aurora can be detected by a modern cell phone camera, he adds, so even if you can't see it with your eyes, try taking a photo of the sky." [source]

I was highly encouraged by his statement that a cellphone camera might show something, even if my eyes could not detect anything. So, I decided to try it! The next two photos were taken just after midnight (0400 UTC) on 11-May-2024.

Nothing was visible to my naked eye, not even the tiniest bit of aurora. But making a snap with "Night Mode" on my Samsung Note20 phone revealed a lovely reddish glow to the northern sky! There is no town or anything else in that direction which could have produced such a glow, so I am certain it is from the aurora!

Moving a short distance down my driveway to get a different perspective resulted in the above shot. The greenish glow at bottom is from a mercury vapor street lamp, while the white light at lower-right is a neighbor's house illuminated by his way-too-bright garage lights. Still, the reddish glow of the aurora is visible, even with the other lights somewhat polluting the scene! I was thrilled with both of those photos!

Ideally, I should have driven to a darker location without any street lamps or house-lights nearby. However, I was asked to fill-in as substitute judge in the LadiesOfHive contest very late in the week (due to an unforeseen circumstance arising in the regular judge's life) and I was desperatively trying to get caught-up on the 100+ posts that had been submitted! So, I deemed even a short trip up the road to be undesirable under the circumstances.

However, last night after my weekly LadiesOfHive contest duties were finished, I drove about a kilometer (0.67 mile) up the road and around a corner to a good vantage spot. There were a few houses nearby, but they were mostly dark that time of night, there were no street lights, and it was atop a small hill, so it was perfect! However, I was not treated to a second night of aurora activity as the northern sky was dark again, as usual.

I did manage to get a decent shot of the constellation Cassiopeia, though, hanging over the northeastern horizon! So, my brief trip to the top of the hill wasn't in vain! I love the night sky, whether it's stars or Mother Moon, so this was still a treat even without the aurora. 💜