Red Sky At Night

Many years ago, as my Mom tells the tale, they sky outside her bedroom window turned red, and she thought the world was ending. She huddled in fear.

Me, I grab my camera and run outside.

These shots are from 2004 and were taken from the parking lot of Smithville Park in Mt. Holly, New Jersey.

Not a place normally associated with the Aurora Borealis.

But on November 7 of that year, the sky lit up.

I was living in a rather light polluted place at the time and needed somewhere nearby with dark skies and open horizons. The first three shots happened in the space of two minutes. The conditions, and show, were changing fast.

Alas, my haste carried over to my imaging. And the stars are brutally out of focus. As seen in the Pleiades in the image above. Note that the green glow is actually to the south of me.

Auroras to the south. Imagine that.

The sky was angry that night.

⭐️  ⭐️  ⭐️  ⭐️  ⭐️

Two nights later the sky was a little less angry. But still lit up.

This is a panorama composed of seven images. When I arrived the aurora was not visible. But I aimed the camera north and took a thirty second exposure. And it was there. A green glow on the horizon. It didn't last long. And I was again in the right place, right time. As the cliche goes, chance favors the prepared mind.

⭐️  ⭐️  ⭐️  ⭐️  ⭐️

Recently, there have been space weather forecasts of possible auroral activity in these here parts. Auroral forecasts are a very inexact science, and no lights were visible. Chatter about this led me to dig up these images. I hope you enjoyed them.