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Northern Lights Aurora Borealis & Comet A3 October 2024 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2024) |
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Northern Lights Aurora Borealis & Comet A3 October 2024 |
All Text & Images: Copyright (2024) |
| Except for the very tail end, I had missed out on photographing the outstanding May 2024 aurora borealis that was visible over much of the country. When I heard the forecast of another high energy geomagnetic storm, I was bound and determined to catch whatever might appear. I went down by the lake not long after dark, and although nothing was visible to the eye, I was able to catch some color with the camera. The intensity built slightly, but the colors began to fade after about 20-25 minutes. I decided to wait it out. It was a good thing I stayed, because the colors came back with a vengeance, mostly pink-purples, with a few yellow-green blobs mixed in. This time they were visible to the eye, although still far more outstanding in the camera. - October 10, 2024 After we saw the northern lights three different nights while visiting Iceland in 2015, I never thought I would see anything like this again, especially in Georgia! |
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| Aurora Borealis - 8:33 pm Setting up my camera & tripod, I didn't see any color, but shooting a long exposure to the north, I could see a glow above the low hill in front of me, as well as a reddish glow in the sky above. |
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| Aurora Borealis - 8:48 pm The glow at the horizon was stronger, while the faint reddish sky color had dissipated. |
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| Aurora Borealis - 8:48 pm Faint vertical columns were becoming more prominent. |
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| Aurora Borealis - 9:16 pm I had noticed a tall reddish column forming to the left (north-west), so I moved up the shoreline to get in a better position. |
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| Aurora Borealis - 9:23 pm The color intensity grew noticeably stronger (shown), but then began to fade somewhat. |
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| Aurora Borealis - 9:58 pm The color intensity dimmed significantly, but I decided to wait and see what might happen. After about a half hour, things began to pick up again. |
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| Aurora Borealis - 10:06 pm Within a few minutes, the aurora was so strong that it was easily visible to the naked eye (and very vivid through the camera!). |
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| Aurora Borealis - 10:14 pm Greenish-yellow blobs appeared amongst the pink-purple glows! |
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| Aurora Borealis - 10:18 pm |
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| Aurora Borealis - 10:21 pm It's hard to pick one, but I think this is my favorite shot of the night. |
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| Aurora Borealis - 10:24 pm The colors and shapes were shifting rapidly now. Compare this image with the one above, shot just 3 minutes earlier. |
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| Aurora Borealis - 10:30 pm |
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| Aurora Borealis - 10:34 pm Shortly after this, the intensity began to fade again. I'd been here for over two hours, so decided to head home. |
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| Three nights later, we were treated to another exceptional sighting! October 13, 2024 |
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| Comet A3 (Tsuchinshan-ATLAS) over Lake Chatuge It won't be seen around the Earth for another 80,000 years! |