05/16/2024
On Friday, May 10th, 2024 Earth experienced the largest geomagnetic storm since October of 2003. This event was triggered by a series of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from the sunspot AR3664, resulting in a severe G5 geomagnetic storm that eventually reached Earth, which is one of the most intense levels of geomagnetic disturbances. The storm produced vibrant auroras visible as far south as Alabama, California, and even Florida!
The wife and I went out for a night hike early Saturday, May 11th. I had the perfect composition in mind for this special event. We hiked through the forest with our headlamps. In the open spaces, we didn't even need the headlamps because the aurora was so active overhead! Within the underbrush of the forest, however, it was pitch darkness.
We got to our destination and I spent the next hour and a half shooting with various settings. My camera is from 2012, an old 5D Mark III which still works very well! The problem is getting a good focus in low-light conditions. Luckily, I have good L series glass and know some tricks to get a good focus point. 😁
We were standing beneath incredibly vibrant colors that we could see with our naked eyes. I've talked with a lot of people, usually folks who live much further south than we do. They could only see a colorless shimmering in the sky and had to use their cameras to expose any semblance of color. Kanda and I, however, were lucky enough to be witnessing it with our own eyes, as brightly colored and vibrant as what is shown here in my finished photograph.
This Wall Decor item is sold by MomentsOfPoetry. Ships from Yorba Linda, CA. Listed on May 15, 2024
