Chasing Comets

With clear skies tonight we drove up to the parking lot at Flattop high above Anchorage around 7:30pm hoping to get a view of the comet Tsuchinshan-ATLAS. There were quite a few people waiting and praying the cloud layers would clear. And finally, we could see it! Really fun sharing this once in 80,000 years event with others. What a night.

Solar Storm, Oct 10-11, 2024. What a night.

Another big solar flare hit the night of Oct 10-11. With kp8 strength forecast we were hoping for a big show this time we weren’t disappointed. People around the globe got to see brilliant aurora. People as far south as Florida were seeing it, and friends of mine in Wisconsin got some nice shots with brilliant reds and pinks. Here in Bear Valley, the clouds finally opened up around midnight for about an hour and we got a really dynamic, active show. Not much red, but the aurora was dancing! Click on the images to see them full-screen.

First Aurora of the 2024-25 season.

It was great to be out shooting aurora again around 3:30am. Only the second time shooting with the new camera system and lens, so very much still getting used to it. Click on an image to see full-screen.