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Aurora Gallery back to spaceweather.com |
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| Summary: On Feb. 1st at 2100 UT, a coronal mass ejection swept past Earth. At first not much happened because the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) near Earth was pointing north--a condition which suppresses geomagnetic activity. Some hours later, however, the IMF tilted south and a day-long G1-class geomagnetic storm began. Sky watchers in Canada and Alaska saw some splendid Northern Lights on Feb. 2nd. Two days later, on Feb. 4th, Earth passed through a solar wind stream flowing from a coronal hole, which briefly re-energized the storm. Solar wind streams also sparked auroras on Feb. 9th-10th, 16th-19th, and 26th. Unless otherwise stated, all images are copyrighted by the photographers. |
| Photographer, Location | Images | Comments | |
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Steve Irvine, Big
Bay, Ontario, Canada Feb. 26 |
#1 | Photo details: Canon A-1 camera,
28mm lens at f3.5, 30 second exp. on Fuji Superia X-TRA 400 film. |
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Peter
Jeffery, Prelude Lake, 16 miles north of Yellowknife, NWT, Canada Feb. 25-26 |
#1, #2, #3 | Photo details: Kodak Gold 800 iso film, 20 mm
f3.5 lens, 20-30 seconds exposure. |
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Lyndon Anderson,
near Bismarck, North Dakota, USA Feb. 26 |
#1, more | L. Anderson: "These were my first auroras since Dec.
26, 2002." |
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Jarle Aasland,
Stavanger, Norway Feb. 26 |
#1 | Photo details: 23:45 local time, Nikon
D100 (digital), Nikkor 20mm f/2.8, 18 sec. exposure at f/2.8, 200 ISO. |
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Jan
Curtis,
Fairbanks, Alaska, USA Feb. 19 |
#1, #2, more | Visit Jan's "Home of the Northern Lights" web site to see a wonderful collection of aurora photos extending back to 1998. |
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John Russell,
Nome, Alaska, USA Feb. 18 |
#1, #2, #3 | J. Russell: "The last several nights were quiet, but tonight was quite lively! Some naked-eye reds were apparent despite the full moonlight!" Photo details: Nikkor 28mm @ f1.4, Fuji Superia 800, 3 to 6 seconds. |
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R. Glenn Jewers,
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada Feb. 18 |
#1, more | G. Jewers: "The temperature was around -34 deg. C with a wind chill of -44 C. After I took this roll of film my camera, hands and feet were frozen! It was a beautiful clear night and the aurora was quite active, with bright arcs and curtains." |
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Todd & Brenda
Throop,
Fairbanks, Alaska, USA Feb. 16 |
#1, #2, #3 | Brenda Throop: "It was very cold! The temperature was hovering around 15-20 below zero." But the auroras and the moon were beautiful. |
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Stephane
Levesque, Luceville, Quebec, Canada Feb. 9 |
#1, #2, #3, #4 | Photo details: 28-50 mm, 800 asa, 30 second exposures. |
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R. Glenn Jewers,
Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada Feb. 9 |
#1, #2, #3 | G. Jewers: "The Northern Lights were out around 8pm and lasted for as long as the batteries in the camera lasted (40 min). It was cold--around -33 degrees C with a wind chill of -42 degrees C!" Photo details: Kodak 400 MAX film, with exposures of 35 to 40 seconds. |
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Suzanne Ruby,
Elk, Washington, USA Feb. 4 |
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, more | It's been mostly cloudy in Washington state since Christmas, says Suzanne Ruby, but on Feb. 4th she was able to spot auroras between breaks in the clouds. Photo details: Pentex 1000, Kodak 400, 20 - 30 seconds exposure. |
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Dan Widman,
Grand Forks, ND, USA Feb. 4 |
#1, #2 | These look like auroras, but they are more likely "light
pillars" caused by low-hanging ice clouds, which refract and reflect
city lights. Photo details: Fuji 800 film, approx. 15 sec. exposure,
50 mm
lens (wide open),
Pentax
k-1000
camera. |
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Stephane
Levesque,
Luceville, Quebec, Canada Feb. 4 |
#1, #2 | Photo details: 28-50 mm, 800 asa, 30 second exposures. |
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Robert Siciliano,
near Palmer, Alaska, USA Feb. 2 |
#1, #2, more | R. Siciliano: "Here you can see the vivid aurora playing peek-a-boo with the scattered clouds over Knik River, near Palmer, Alaska. " |
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Joe Slagle,
near Anchorage, Alaska, USA Feb. 2 |
#1, #2, #3 | J. Slagle: "It was a great display!" |
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Calvin Hall,
Anchorage, Alaska, USA, Feb. 2 |
#1, #2, #3, more | C. Hall: "These shots were taken in west Anchorage, over Cook Inlet. The streaked lights are of a Boeing 747 taking off from Anchorage International airport. High pressure sodium lights from Anchorage and the airport are the cause of the colored clouds." |
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Chuck Johnson,
Cleary Summit, Alaska, USA Feb. 2 |
#1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, more | Photo details: Olympus digital C3040, 400 ISO, 8-16 seconds, f1.8 lens |
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Philippe Moussette,
Cap-Rouge, Quebec, Canada Feb. 2 |
#1, more | Photo details: Coolpix 4500 at 400ASA exposed 15 sec. |
