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A Surprise Display |
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October
24, 2002 |
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Looking northwest. The lights of Washburn, ND, are on the left, and the lights of Wilton, ND, are on the right. |
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Looking northeast. The aurora is easily visible despite the bright moon. |
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Looking northeast. |
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Looking north. The aurora is strongest over the lights of Wilton, ND. |
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Looking north. The lights of Washburn, ND, are on the left, and the lights of Wilton, ND, are on the right. Note the clouds moving in overhead. |
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Looking north. The lights of Washburn, ND, are on the left, and the lights of Wilton, ND, are on the right. Note the clouds moving in overhead. |
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Looking north-northwest. The lights of Washburn, ND, are on the left, and the lights of Wilton, ND, are on the right. FYI, I could actually see a "dull" red on the upper part of the display. Note the clouds moving in overhead. By the way, that "white stuff" in the foreground is snow! |
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Looking northeast. Note the clouds moving in from the southwest. |
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Looking north. Two minutes prior to my taking this photograph, there was a strong ray to the north. I took this photograph after I set my camera up in a new viewing location. The ray was gone, but I took the photograph anyway, and this is the result. Again, note the light snow covering part of the landscape. |
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Clouds, clouds, clouds. Sometimes, North Dakota - even with its semi-arid climate - can have clouds for weeks, as was the case on the October 24, 2002. I was disappointed this particular day because I knew that the northern lights would be visible at my location in the evening - but above the cloud layer. On this particular evening, after I got home from a meeting, I saw that the activity was good - but Bismarck was "socked in" with clouds. By chance, I called my dad on the farm and he said "it's cloudy, but let me take a look." He walked outside and promptly told me, "it's clear out." Thus, I left at about 9 p.m., and prior to even getting out of the city limits, I could see the northern lights, high in the northern sky, with activity above 60 degrees. There was a cloud bank moving northeast, and one just behind me to the southwest. I figured I had about 1 hour to view the show before clouds once again dominated the night sky. I could easily see activity as I drove north, despite the glare of the headlights from my vehicle. I set up to photograph at about 9:15 a.m., and then a substorm began. Despite bright moonlight, I had no problem seeing the northern lights right by the moon. Activity was decent, but then the show died about 9:40 p.m., and it totally clouded over at about 10:00 p.m. Now if I was a real "aurora freak," I would have driven north and east, ahead of the cloud bank. However, sleep was on the schedule, and there will be another show ..... |
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