Northern Lights Last Night!
I rushed to a dark spot near Pitt Meadows right after I learned that a coronal mass ejection (CME) on the sun was hitting the Earth during the night hours of October 8, 2013. After a couple of hours waiting in the car at the parking lot, at about mid-night, I got out my car, found a spot at the bank of a creek that had an open space towards the north and set up my gears. Very soon I noticed a green arch over the northern horizon and began to take serial shots that would be used to create a time-lapse video or a composite photograph. The lights got stronger after 1 am. Unfortunately, heavy fog or mist also began to arise from the creek and the fields around me. My camera and lens became foggy and damp very soon. The northern lights also became weaker after 1:30 am. By 1:40 am, the lens was totally foggy, and the sky was also in fog. I should have rushed to a higher ground, such as Mt. Baker’s Artist Point (which however is nearly three hours drive from home).
Here is an animated Gif file that combines 7 pictures (you may have to click it to see the animated effect):
Gif file is low resolution. Let me post a couple of higher resolution pictures as well:
The image quality of the last picture suffers as result of the foggy lens, but still reveals the strength of the northern lights at that time.
I also posted time-lapse videos on Youtube: here (which shows the northern lights before 1 am) and here (which shows the northern lights at their peak, about 1:15 am) .
Thanks for watching.
Danny Xu with Camera 