Sunday, September 1, 2019

Aurora 9/1/2019

 

   Predictions of auroral activity had been all over the local news since mid-week.  Friends and relatives had been asking me if I had heard of the pending Northern Lights display.  My reply dampened their expectations since the Kp index was only forecast to hit 5 or 6.  Besides that the timing of peak activity was supposed to occur when our local area was under cloudy skies. 

  Anyway I woke at 4:30 this morning and looked out to see that the sky had cleared.  So I checked my favorite website http://spaceweather.com/ to see what the geomagnetic conditions were.  They indicated a level of Kp 5 which doesn't make for a visually detectable display from my location but my camera can sometimes catch it anyway. So I packed the camera and the dog and headed toward the state park.

Slightly green on the horizon at level Kp 5
    The strength of the northern lights can vary quickly and they did. Fortunately intensity to probably Kp 6 and the display became barely visible to my eye but easily within the range of my camera.
Exposure - 30 seconds at f/3.5 and ISO 8000
Telephone pole and sand silo cropped out.
Milky Way over Lake Michigan

Sunset and Thunderstorm 8/28 & 8/29 2019

    As beautiful as a sunset can be over Lake Michigan, it got kicked up a notch as recent volcanic activity in western Pacific have infused the stratosphere with sulfurous aerosols which are adding purple and gold to sunrises and sets in the northern hemisphere. 
   Last Wednesday I went down to the lakeshore and unsuccessfully tried to photograph the green flash (saw it but overexposed it) at sunset.  In the twilight aftermath the clouds and sky took on vivid hues to make a great backdrop for two Ludington icons.
The SS Badger and the Ludington Lighthouse
  Tried again for the green flash the next night but it didn't materialize but thunderstorms 50 miles to the south made the effort worthwhile.