Alaska! (Part 4) -- September 1, The Northern Lights

After the long, pothole-avoiding drive along the Denali Highway, I decided to take it easy the next day. Fat chance. Though it started out that way, with mist rising over Twin Lakes and one of th muskrats swimming over to my side of the lake to collect more leafy branches for its underwater burrow. 

I'd read somewhere that the Northern Lights had been putting on a spectacular show all over Alaska for the past few days. They occur year-round, but become visible only when the days are shorter. Still, I heard they were currently occurring between 11:30pm and 2:30am, and I usually was in bed by 10pm after a usually busy, tiring day. But this could have been the last day when you could see them at this particular peak cycle, and as view conditions at my camping spot were perfect -- a pretty much unimpeded view of the sky, no clouds in the forecast, no light pollution from nearby towns, and the possibility of them appearing over the lake -- I was ready with my camera setup by 6pm. I was using my Canon 7D MK I camera body with the 17-55 f/2.8 lens, a tripod, and shutter remote to reduce camera shake. I had no idea on what camera settings to use, but I did take successful nighttime lightning shots back home and wrote the settings down which I luckily brought with me, so I figured I at least had a starting point. So I sat in my camp chair, took out my Kindle, and waited...Then a Road Trek van stopped at my pullout. Shoot!  I really preferred to view the Northern Lights alone, mainly because nobody would see me if I started cursing because I couldn't get the right settings -- or I fell into the lake. But that's if I even saw them, which was unlikely.  My camping spot along the lake was large enough for my truck and trailer plus 2 other vehicles, so people were constantly stopping to take photos of the lake. But the Road Trek van appeared to be staying there for awhile, possibly even overnight. The side door opened and a guy came out; he asked if I minded if he could stay the night as he wanted to possibly photograph the Northern Lights. It turned out his name was Tim McCreary, and he "chased" the Northern Lights. He and his wife had just come from Fairbanks where they witnessed a display that rated high on his scale. Meeting Tim was akin to having Len Jellicoe see my "FARANUF" license plate back at the campground along the Cassiar Highway; he too is a well-known birder and bird photographer. And he lives in the Las Vegas area. So we set up our camera equipment and waited. Tim gave me tips on which camera settings to use but, to be honest, they just flew right out of my head and I ended up winging it. But the best advice he gave me -- and this I remembered -- was to have a lens tissue on hand because my lens would probably fog up. As you can see from the morning photo, the muskrat was swimming through mist rising from the lake, so there undoubtedly would be fog or mist during the early morning hours that we'd be out. Luckily, I had a few lens cleaning  tissues left, and after the night was over was extremely grateful that I did. Because...

Shortly after 11:30 Tim said "There's a greenish glow off to the north". It was faint, but noticeable. Then a small, wavy curtain slowly became visible. 

Good God. There they are. I had my camera at ISO 16000, which means it's more sensitive to dim light so there is more of a chance that the camera will record the image. The thing is, the higher the ISO the grainier the photo, so my first shots were crap. Shoot, I hope I get the settings right before the show ends... I finally did. As you'll see, ISO 6400 did a much better job...

The wavy line grew more subtantial . 

It looked like a comet -- 

Formed into a zigazg swirl...

then faded out. Shoot. Is that it? Hang on... 

It started up again, this time in more of a northwesterly direction . And more over our heads; you can see a tree at the bottom, left of center. It was much larger than the first formation. 

Then the swirl pattern grew until it resembled a green-hued spiral galaxy...

Lost a bit of its spiral, but became brighter. These didn't suddenly pop into view; they formed in the sky as we watched. The Northern Lights are sometimes accompanied by a sound, but we didn't hear any. 

This is as good of a time as any to explain what causes the Northern Lights, which are called "Aurora borealis" in the northern hemisphere and "Aurora australis" in the south. The simplest explanation is that they're caused by collisions between electrically charged particles from the sun that enter the earth's atmosphere. Increased sunspot activity means more electrons and protons are blown towards the earth on a "solar wind". The charged particles are usually deflected by the earth's magnetic field, but the field is weaker at both the south and north poles so some particles enter the atmosphere and collide with gas particles. And that creates the dancing lights. But I found out what caused the Northern Lights afterwards, and at the time just reveled in the display without knowing what created them. 

The show continued. Tim said the the Lights were brighter and more frequent when he saw them a few days before in Fairbanks. There's a scale of 0 to 9 that represents the level of solar activity, and by the end of the lights this night Tim said they were only about a 3 or 4. If this was only a 4 at best, then a 10 would be like sharing visions with Carlos Castenada after smoking peyote. A curtain formed, and I could see hints of purple --

I'd finally settled on good camera settings --- ISO 6400, bulb shooting mode, a low shutter speed of 5.5 to bring in the light, and an aperture of 4.5; my lens could go down to 2.8, which means it's pretty darn good in low light. And that was helpful because most of the lights were pretty dim so far. 

As you can see -- or barely see. Was this going to be it? 

Still fading out...The light on the lower left are the tail lights of a car on the Denali Highway, so you can tell how low the lights are to the horizon. 

Then things started brightening up again, with the direction changing; this was more to the north, over the lake, where you can see a faint reflection. 

Then a curtain formed above us; you can see Discovery's roof at the bottom. 

It got brighter and waved like a curtain in a breeze -- 

And brighter and larger still, with areas of purple. 

Tim said he's seen displays that go on all over the sky at the same time, but this night it was in one section of the sky at a time. Here it's above the horizon to the northwest. By this time I was at the edge of the lake, almost in the water as I was trying to get a clear view of the lights. Those aren't trees; they're plants along the water's edge. 

Then it formed above the lake. By this time it was 2:21, mist was rising above the water. So there I was, nearly in the lake, with the camera on a tripod, and I was using lens cleaning tissue every 5 minutes to clear off the condensation on the lens. You can see a bit of reflection on the lake. 

Then it grew a bit fainter...

fainter still then started to lose its shape...

Then -- BAM!  I can only describe it as a door opening, and a bright greenish light shining out. Everything was bathed in green, and the iights were shimmering and waving. Just a 3 or a 4? Wow. 

It re-formed over the lake...

And turned into a huge pinwheel, slowly revolving. You can make out the mist over the lake. 

Then a huge sheet of green formed to the northwest, filling the sky all the way down to the tops of the mountains; by this time I was in mud along the lake -- 

It then started to fade out...

then stretched up in the sky. By this time it was around 2:45 and the displays had gone on for over 3 hours - 

And finally things started to quiet down. A last reflection over the lake -- 

Fading... And then Tim and I called it a night. I was cold and zonked-out -- but what a show. I consider it to be the highlight of my entire North To Alaska trip. 

One more image...I took this photo when it was along the horizon to the north, and it was only when I saw it on the computer screen that I realized I got Tim's Road Trek van in the frame. And it looks as if it's heading into the heavens. Road Trek meets Star Trek...