Amazing Aurora in Alaska, March 2014

By Nancy Atkinson - March 24, 2014 at 4:55 PM UTC | Solar Astronomy
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Every year, our friend and astrophotographer extraordinaire

John Chumack

co-leads a tour to Alaska on how to photograph the northern lights and the night sky, and this year they hit paydirt. "Absolutely amazing aurora about 30 minutes outside Fairbanks, Alaska!!!!" John wrote via email. "I took over 450 photos of it, I watched it dance and sway from 9:30pm until 4:00am!!! It got so bright at times it turn the snow green, to red to purple too!"

Sounds incredible, and here are some great pictures to showcase what John and his friends saw. If you have an aurora trip on your bucket list,

you can find out more about the Alaskan astrophotography tour here.

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Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack. [/caption]

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Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack. [/caption]

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Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack. [/caption]

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Aurora seen near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 21, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack. [/caption]

UPDATE: John sent us an update and a couple of additional aurora photos from subsequent nights in Alaska. He said he has done quite a bit of research over the years, and Fairbanks has the highest number of clear nights late March -- when he annually hosts the aurora tour. "Also the Earth's Magnetic Field is weaker near equinox, so even if you don't get flares, the solar wind is enough to spark aurora displays," John said via email. "We are on our 4th consecutive clear nights with great Aurora displays. Only a KP-2 index Level is need to see them here."

A good enticement to check out his tour for 2015!

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Aurora on March 24, 2014 near Fairbanks, Alaska. Credit and copyright: John Chumack. [/caption]

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A group of attendees at John Chumack's Aurora Borealis tour watch the aurora together near Fairbanks, Alaska on March 24, 2014. Credit and copyright: John Chumack[/caption]

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com