This week, for the first time in quite a while, Sarah and I stood in the rear garden of our home in Canada in anticipation of an approaching solar storm, and it promised to be a good one however, very often the promised aurora can fall flat or not show at all, but as you can see in the images below, not this evening.
This evening as waves of electrified gases raced through space on the solar wind, some of that energy was captured by earths magnetic shield and pulled down magnetic field lines at the poles. Once funnelled into the polar regions these charged particles excite oxygen and nitrogen to produce the incredible phenomena that fills our night skies with otherworldly illumination. The most familiar green light comes from oxygen between 100 to 300 km above the earth, pink and dark red is produced by nitrogen molecules at around 100 km. Very bright red auroras come from oxygen at altitudes above 300 km and the blue and purple come from hydrogen and helium though these are much easier for the camera to catch than for the eye to see. Monday evening was a stunning aurora, bringing to life the usually invisible magnetic field lines with vivid greens, reds and purples that encircled the city of Cochrane below. As always when watching the aurora I thought of those times years ago, when I dreamed of seeing it without ever daring to hope I actually would. Sarah left at 11pm for bed and I crawled in beside her in the early hours, freezing cold and wonderfully happy to have been able to stand beneath such an awe inspiring sight once more.
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With a good aurora predicted for last night I set out from home at 11:30pm to make my way to Banff National Park and the open dark skies around Lake Minnewanka. As I approached the mountains a thick heavy cloudbank hung over everything, the prediction was for 'some cloud' but I didn't expect it all to be in the same place, I still continued to the lake in the hope that the sky might clear. As you'll see in the gallery below it never actually did but I think it really adds to the mood. For much of the time it ruined every shot but occasionally it provided a wonderful addition to the star filled skies. I set up the camera around 12:30am and took shots until about 3:00am. Two girls from France arrived and set up close to me but struggled to get any shots before they got fed up and left again disappointed that they didn't see much of an aurora. It was literally only minutes after they left that the sky behind Mt Astley lit up and sprites danced across the ridge from east to west, for a short time everything was perfect and I made some nice shots that made the trip worthwhile. Mountains being what they are, you never really know what you're going to get weather wise, but sometimes if you put yourself out there you are rewarded for your efforts and last night was one of those nights.
The house in Cochrane is certainly providing a great viewing spot for the Aurora, I'm still too lazy to actually get myself out there in the mountains to make some great aurora shots, so here's some more 'from the balcony' shots of a great display on Wednesday this week.
With just 7 days to go before 'moving day' I had almost given up hope of seeing a last Aurora from the balcony, last night the forecast was great for the northern lights....unfortunately it was totally clouded over, Tonight the Aurora forecast was weak and clouds were due again, but low and behold, a gap appeared in the clouds around midnight and a hint of that beautiful green light filled the night sky behind.
Perhaps not the most impressive Aurora I've seen but one of the most welcome, it was a 'just one more' moment and I really enjoyed standing out in the chilly night air watching until the clouds returned. I also grabbed a couple of shots of the incredible number of stars visible through the cloud break. A short burst of Auroral activity had me scrambling to get the camera out tonight, though it didn't last long it was, as always, fantastic. I messed around a little lighting up the snow covered trail behind the house with my headtorch too. Click smaller images for captioned versions.
This weekend promised some great aurora but the cloud has prevented any view of the night sky until tonight, for just a short time a break in the cloud allowed me to grab a few shots. Not the best display but always beautiful to see. With temperatures at -20 I didn't stay long on the balcony but as I went back into the house I had my fingers crossed for tomorrow when the sky should be clear and the aurora still present....here's hoping.
At midnight last night I noticed a hint of aurora outside and grabbed a couple of shots before heading to bed, it was a weak display for the most part but still provided one nice burst. I couldn't stay up until the wee small hours as usual as I had commitments in the morning, but I really enjoyed this beautiful phenomenon just as much as I always do.
Just a single shot from the Aurora that floated across the night sky last night. A full moon and very weak solar activity mean it was a poor display (if there is such a thing) but I still found myself on the balcony for 2.5 hours enjoying the warm night air and straining to see this natural wonder, this time with the addition of music via my headphones. As always I put my cold feet on Sarah when I finally went to bed at 2 am.
Who am I kidding, no matter how often this occurs we are still in awe of the incredible aurora, I moved my lazy backside off the balcony this time and made some really nice shots including this silhouette 'selfie' using my headtorch for illumination. Click here for some of my best aurora shots yet.
In February 2012 when Sarah and I first saw the Aurora Borealis I lacked the ability (and the gear) to make any good shots of it (though I did try) Last night the Aurora returned and this time I think I did it justice. You can decide for yourself by clicking here for more images.
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AuthorWe arrived in Calgary, Canada on 29th December 2011 to continue our journey. This blog is intended to keep our family and friends informed whilst we explore Canada.You can use the RSS feed below to stay updated. Categories
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