Weekend Aurora Surprise

By Nancy Atkinson - June 3, 2013 at 4:37 PM UTC | Planetary Science
Aurora-over-Crater-Lake-ISS.jpg

An unexpected arrival of a surprisingly strong (6 KP) geomagnetic storm from the Sun provided an amazing weekend for astrophotographers. Stargazers from both hemispheres were treated with seeing the aurora. We already posted the images from

Mike Hollingshead seeing the aurora and red sprite lightning in Iowa,

but here are some more great views, including this gorgeous shot of the aurora over Crater Lake in Oregon, from astrophotographer

Brad Goldpaint

, with the added intrigue of the International Space Station flying over at 2:35 am, local time. He's also provided an amazing video, too, below.

"I drove to Crater Lake National Park last night to photograph the Milky Way rising above the rim," Goldpaint said via email to Universe Today. "I've waited months for the roads to open and spring storms to pass, so I could spend a solitude night with the stars. Near 11pm, I was staring upward towards a clear night sky when suddenly, without much warning, an unmistakable faint glow of the aurora borealis began erupting in front of me. I quickly packed up my gear, hiked down to my truck, and sped to a north facing location. With adrenaline pumping, I raced to the edge of the caldera, set up a time-lapse sequence, and watched northern lights dance until sunrise. The moon rose around 2am and blanketed the surrounding landscape with a faint glow, adding depth and texture to the shot."

[embed]https://vimeo.com/67494963[/embed]

[caption id="attachment_102620" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

A green aurora even colors the waters in this image from May 31, 2013, taken near Leith, Ontario, Canada. Credit and copyright: Adam Wipp.[/caption]

[caption id="attachment_102622" align="aligncenter" width="580"]

Aurora seen on May 31, 2013 near Leith, Ontario, Canada. Credit and copyright: Adam Wipp. [/caption]

This video from

Loic Le Guilly

shows the aurora australis (southern lights) and the glow of the Milky Way in the skies over Tasmania he saw at Signal Station, near Hobart, Tasmania:

[embed]https://vimeo.com/67455157[/embed]

Aurora Australis, Signal Station, Hobart from Loic Le Guilly on Vimeo.

This great aurora video comes from Yuichi Takasaka, taken near Lumby, British Columbia:

[embed]https://vimeo.com/67486542[/embed]

Mid-Latitude Auroras in May 31, 2013 from Yuichi Takasaka on Vimeo.

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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