Categories: Aurora

Weekend Aurora Surprise

The aurora borealis over Crater Lake National Park taken on June 1, 2013. This image also includes the flyover of the International Space Station (ISS). Credit and copyright: Brad Goldpaint.

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.”

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

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

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:

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

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

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

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy has been with Universe Today since 2004, and has published over 6,000 articles on space exploration, astronomy, science and technology. She is the author of two books: "Eight Years to the Moon: the History of the Apollo Missions," (2019) which shares the stories of 60 engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make landing on the Moon possible; and "Incredible Stories from Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos" (2016) tells the stories of those who work on NASA's robotic missions to explore the Solar System and beyond. Follow Nancy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/Nancy_A and and Instagram at and https://www.instagram.com/nancyatkinson_ut/