I didn't want to leave, I wanted to keep seeing more lights, more movement and maintain that connection with the heavens that I so rarely get to experience.
iOS sensor, 3 sec at f/1.6, ISO 4000
iOS sensor, 3 sec at f/1.6, ISO 5000
I finally saw "it", the Northern Lights. For years, I have been wondering what it would be like to go to Alaska or anywhere north of 50-ish degrees latitude and witness the Aurora Borealis with my own eyes. I've seen many pictures posted by adventurers in places like Iceland, Finland, Norway, Alaska and the Yukon which were striking and vivid scenes of the Aurora with backdrops of forest, lakes and snow. I've seen the animations as well, and very early on, I put witnessing an Aurora Borealis on my "bucket list".
When we moved up to Washington from Colorado, I hoped this would bring me closer to the reality, simply by moving 7 degrees further north on the Earth. But in almost 9 years here, I haven't yet seen the lights mainly due to weather, schedule and location not lining up as I needed.
Canon T6 sensor. 8 sec at f/4.0, ISO 3200
So when I caught wind that a G4 coronal mass ejection (CME) event occurred on 8 October 2024 and was forecasted to begin affecting the earth on 10 October, I began making preparations to simply GO FOR IT. I had been following NWS Space Weather forecasted updates, and could see that this was going to be a great opportunity to experience the event, because there was a fairly stable high pressure dome in place over the PacNW. This was setting up to be a rare occasion aligned with very benign weather conditions, and for all of Washington, the chances of seeing an Aurora was certain.
When darkness began to fall here in town, my friend texted me and said that it looks like some high clouds were streaming in from the south and west of town. I went on the GOES Viz Loop to see if this was a building cloudiness or just a blip. It appeared to be building from the southwest, so instead of Plan A's objective to drive up to the ridge above our house, I moved on to Plan B and drove 30 or so miles north up to Manastash Ridge viewpoint.
As I was driving north over Umtanum Ridge, I could see the sky flickering through my windshield. (!!!) Faint pillars were appearing and disappearing. I couldn't believe my eyes that this was happening! I carefully drove the rest of the way to the lookout and parked. I found a spot next to a guardrail and set up my camera and tripod. Then I let my eyes adjust away from the interior lights of my truck and phone screen to the natural darkness and highlights of the October sky.
It was 21:20pm PDT, 10 October 2024 (04:20a UTC, 11 October 2024).
The photos in the set above are honestly brighter than what I witnessed that night, but I do love how the sensors of my Canon picked up the moving ions so vividly. Long exposures for the win!
It is true that cameras can pick up auroras much brighter and more vivid than our eyes, and I understand why. The cones in our eyes are what helps us "see" color, and the cones only work in light. In the dark we use our rods, and our rods don't see color, instead they see shadows, in monochrome. With camera sensors such as iOS or my Canon t6, for instance, they can capture the colors our eyes cannot see when it is sufficiently dark enough. All of those Aurora photos we see posted online, with the very bright and vivid colors, are representative of what the camera senses, but not necessarily what our eyes actually see. The cameras also employ long exposures so light fidelity can be captured at nighttime. However, when an Aurora storm is strong enough, like it was on this night (G4 = Severe!), you could absolutely see the lights and colors with your naked eyes. They weren't as strikingly vivid as a properly exposed photo, but the Aurora that night was putting out enough light that our cones were activating! I could see the colorful lighting as well as dancing pillars!
I included images below that are more realistic of the light and color I witnessed that night.
How could I describe the experience? It reminded me of searchlights torching the sky but there were no clouds to reflect the light back, and there were no streams of light coming from the ground source. The lights were dancing along the horizon at a slow pace, morphing and shaping. They were, at times, also shooting overhead at warp-speed, flashing their muted colors randomly. It felt like the heavens were sending us a message, and I was definitely receiving it. It was surreal, and I was overcome with emotion as I stayed there and slowly soaked the experience all in. I took photos from time to time with both cameras, but also just sat, looked up and watched the sky speak. For those two hours, I was simply mesmerized. I felt the cold creeping in, but didn't want to leave. I could have stayed there all night, honestly, but the cloud deck began to move in to the north of Ellensburg around 11:30p, shutting off much of the show.
Nearing the end of the show (for us) as a cloud deck began to move into the area. I attempted a few more photos in this direction, then reluctantly started to leave.
I didn't want to leave, I wanted to keep seeing more lights, more movement and maintain that connection with the heavens that I so rarely get to experience. Witnessing this event with others nearby was enjoyable, as it was a reminder that the heavens can (and do) call to us, and it's our choice to answer. A few of us talked about how lucky we were to be present and watching, and to absorb this occasion into the fabric of our lives. I won't forget this experience, and while my photos here will undoubtedly have a different meaning to me than they will you, I believe in sharing this experience with others, so that someone else may take this as a motivator to go see and witness the Aurora for themselves, like I did.
Even though this was a "bucket list" item I was able to check off, that doesn't mean that I'm finished with it (like sky diving, for instance). Far from it. In fact, I want to witness this in other places, further north on the Earth, with snow on the ground. I want to not only feel the Aurora, I want to reconnect with the heavens on this type of frequency again. Next time I find myself in front of God's and Nature's lightshow, I will make sure I have some accompanying low-volume background music. I think binaural beats is something that would be excellent to pair with an Aurora light show.
-----------------------------
Thanks for reading, hope to see you out there!
-- B.J.
